


Remember How you Got Here, and you Might Know How to Go Foreward

by MelonMass



Series: Remember to Move Foreword [1]
Category: Xī yóu jì | Journey to the West - Wú Cheng'en
Genre: "every set of rules has a loophole or two", Bajie as Ultimate Wingman, Bajie being a good brother, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dealing with assholes, First Kiss, Genderfluid Character, Guanyin is team mom, I WILL MAKE YOU CRY FOR HIM, I started planning this when people on discord were kinda hating on Sanzang, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Transphobia, Last One Out Of Beach City, Love Confessions, M/M, Miscarriage, NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo 2018, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Periods, Sangzang is Anxiety Gay tm, Sanzang has feelings he doesn't know how to deal with, Six-Eared gets a crush on Longma, Staring Longma as Repressed Nerd, Teen Sanzang is curious about things, Trans Male Character, Trans Wukong, Weddings, Wujing as Voice of Reason, Wukong craves affection, and introducing Mysterious Stranger as Themself, bathing together, enter the modern world, physical affection, seasonal illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-08-18 18:54:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 43
Words: 50,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16522712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelonMass/pseuds/MelonMass
Summary: Sanzang shares his memories of the past and how they shaped him today. Meanwhile, new feelings are emerging for one of his disciples, and he has absolutely no idea how to handle it.





	1. Chapter 1

The Abbot who raised him was a great man. Xuanzang was one of several different children the man raised. The man was kind, and as Sanzang will learn through passing centuries, far ahead of his time. A woman, who was much like an older sister to him, prefered to lay with other women. She used to say “The only thing wrong with it is the challenge of finding another woman that wants me.” Luckily for her, there were other women like her in their monastery.

Another female monk was one that had spent the first years of her life being called a boy. There were also a few male monks who had gone through similar troubles, although their struggle was people believing them to be women. Young Xuanzang never understood why there would be such confusion. When he got older, he realized that what they were was common enough some to know, but rare enough not to be common knowledge.

There was another monk around his age he was particularly fond of. They were both in their preteens when Xuanzang noticed flutters in his chest and knots in his stomach whenever around the boy. It was around this age that Xuanzang asked a lot of questions about romance and...intimacy. He never really asked for  _ specifics _ . Just simple things like “can a relationship persist without such intimate relations?” Or “how much physical affection is  _ too _ much?”

The answer to both was “It’s up to you and the other person, really,” followed by a quickly added, “Just make sure to communicate to each other when you’re uncomfortable. Ask them first before doing anything.”

Whenever Sanzang shares this story, he’s told it’s _ very  _ in character for the first thing he asked to do be holding hands. Such a thing felt like a big leap back then. It was like asking to be something just a bit more than friends. Xuanzang just barely managed to get the words out, he was so nervous. He felt a bit calmer when the boy agreed. Every nerve in his body soothed when he felt the warmth of another hand in his own.

It was blissful, that relationship he and that other boy had. Something slow and sweet. Held hands, sweet hugs, foreheads pressed together. It took a few years for either of the boys to dare ask for  _ a kiss _ . Every kiss was sweet and short and something in Xuanzang wanted it to last longer. He didn’t allow himself such indulgences. He was, after all, still a  _ monk _ . New emerging physical desires from either of them needed to be resisted to reach enlightenment.

One morning, the boy was nowhere to be found. No one had any idea where he had gone. He never came back that night or any night after. No one in the surrounding area had seen any sign of him. There was never any note left behind. He never even told anyone he’d be leaving. The boy just suddenly, completely disappeared.

(He  _ ditched _ you!)

(Wukong, please.)

Elder Sister spent that tonight trying to comfort Xuanzang. The boy was known to be easily moved to tears. “There are worse ways for a relationship to end,” she consoled. “There are other people out there. Other loves to have.”

“I have no desire to go searching for such affections,” the young monk responded. “If romantic feelings are fulfilled without trouble, so be it. I will not make myself suffer over such things.” It was a promise to himself. Romance was not and would never be something that happened easily to him. But at that moment, Xuanzang cried into his sister’s shoulder.

The following year, Xuanzang discovered who his parents were and what happened to them. He found his mother. He found his grandmother. He brought his grandfather news of his mother, and the man gathered an army to save her. Xuanzang’s father was avenged, brought back to life, and his biological family was whole again. 

(Why are you just breezing past that? That sounds so interesting!)

(Could you please not interrupt?)

Even with the prospect to live a comfortable life with the family he never had the chance to know before, Xuanzang decided to stay a monk. His parents were of high status, As their oldest and only son, he’d likely be expected to find a wife and have children. At least, that was how Xuanzang thought things like that worked. As a monk, such things were not expected of him. Enlightenment was not something his family would try to keep him from.

Sanzang, to this day, feels no regret of that decision, but some days, he feels just a bit of guilt. He was sure that his family would do well without him. They held together well enough before the tragedy that fell upon them before his birth. They could recover without him being there. That was what Xuanzang believed. A few years later, his mother killed herself.

(Holy  _ shit _ )

(WUKONG)

Xuanzang was assured that his mother killed herself in a reserved and respectable way. That fact was meant to be comforting. The monk felt unsettled. She left suddenly, unexpectedly, and with no note to explain or say goodbye. It was the second time someone he cared about left him like that: suddenly, unexpectedly, and without an explanation or goodbye. It was  _ very _ unnerving.

He cried quite a bit when he meditated by himself. Something in the back of his mind wondered  _ what his young love killed himself, too? _ That thought sparked many thoughts that left the monk trembling and feeling he could be sick.  _ He left because of you. You should have been there for your mother. They’re dead. They’re both dead, They’re dead because of you. You couldn’t even be selfless enough to give them what they needed. _

It was in that moment, Xuanzang decided this was what happened when he gets attached to other people. They’d leave, or die, or change, and it would just leave the monk in pain and suffering. From that day on, the monk decided to keep other people at a distance. There were those he thought of as friends, but he never let them get too close. Once he was able to, he slept alone in his own room. It was cold, and maybe he was just a bit lonely. At the very least, it was  _ safe _ .


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The winter is cold. One must find ways to stay warm.

Along the journey, winters are  _ particularly _ difficult. Especially so when they go long distances between towns and villages. The human monk is just barely wrapped up enough to keep from freezing to death. As for his inhuman travelling companions, the amount blankets and coats they need varies. Wujing, the fish demon, is bundled up in such a way that Sanzang is surprised he can move. Bajie complains every so often about the wind in his face, but seems warm enough with the thick coat he has. And Wukong…

The monkey is hardly affected by the cold. The only layers added to his clothes are a coat and a boots. The only complaints he lets out are how cramped his feet feel in shoes, or how they have yet to see any snow despite all of this cold. The morning after he says that, the group wakes up to a thin layer of snow. Wukong is incredibly pleased, kicking piles of snow and rolling around in it. Bajie is quick to accuse the monkey of summoning the snow to slow them down and make them all suffer.

The two disciples are quickly arguing with each other. Wujing would normally try to get between them, but currently, he’s covering more and more of himself with his blankets. Sanzang is barely able to pay attention to what either of the two are saying. He sneezes a few times in quick succession. That manages to pull Wukong’s attention. He stops in the middle of his rebuttal and says, “Look, you wanna stand around in the snow, or keep walking so that  _ maybe _ we can find some shelter by tonight? You rather sleep in the snow?”

Bajie seems to prefer shelter to cold, damp snow, so he picks up Wujing in his bundle of blankets and they continue on their way. They don’t manage to find shelter that night, or the night after. Sanzang sneezes and coughs more as the days go by. It’s not a good sign, he knows. At this rate, he’s going to become ill, and they won’t be able to move on for sometime. Or perhaps he’s already ill, with the way his body shivers and his head throbs.

Wukong shakes hims awake early in the morning, when the sun has just barely risen above the horizon.. “Master.” he points off in the distance. “I surveyed the area, to see if there were any caves or houses nearby. There’s a cave not too far. We could get you there fairly quickly.”

Sanzang is too tired to continue travelling at the moment. He tries to say as much, but he instead mumbles and coughs. Wukong already kicks Bajie awake, saying he found a much less snowy place for him to sleep. He complains, “ _ Why _ do we have to move  _ now? _ ”

“Because Master is  _ clearly _ ill, and Wujing is too cold to move.” The fish demon in question isn’t even visible from his mountain of blankets. Sanzang tries to protest again. He sneezes, and his throat feels rough and scratchy. Wukong picks the monk right up from the ground. The monkey decides to carry him instead of putting him on the horse. “I’m warmer,” he says, and it’s not actually a lie.

The cave doesn’t look like and nature-made cave Sanzang has ever seen. Briefly, he wonders if it’s a demon’s cave. Wukong assures them that the cave is empty. It goes a few feet in, then separates into two different openings. Neither space is large enough for the entire group to stay in. “You three take the left side,” Wukong instructs, “Master and I will take the right.”

Bajie squints at the monkey as though he’s suspicious. He doesn’t complain, however, and takes the the horse and youngest disciple to the other side of the cave. Sanzang sneezes. He does his best not to get any snot or spit on Wukong. “It’s too closed off for a fire,” the monkey apologizes. He sets the monk down and sheds his coat. “But it’s still much warmer than sleeping out in the snow, isn’t it?”

Even so, Sanzang shivers. He wishes for tea to soothe his throat and warm his body. Wukong sits beside the monk. “I know of another way to keep warm. Did it when I was younger with the other monkeys.” Wukong waits for Sanzang to show some kind of interest before continuing. “When it got too cold for fur alone to keep as warm, we would snuggle close together before we ever thought about putting on layers.” Wukong looks away sheepishly, something that Sanzang hadn’t thought was possible.

“I know humans are weird about nudity, but I’m warm enough. You’d just need to shed some of your layers. We could lay together under some blankets.” Wukong faces the monk again. “Is that okay?”

Sanzang thinks hard. There would be closeness and touch and everything Sanzang has been avoiding. But it’d been warm. He’s so cold, too cold. He  _ needs _ warmth. Sanzang does his best to croak out, “Y...yes.”

Wukong brightens up. Sanzang starts removing his coats with shaking hands. Wukong grabs them with his own much, warmer hands. “Let- holy crap, your hands are cold!” Momentarily, he’s distracted by warming the monks hands with his breath. “If you’re not bothered with it, I could help you with your coat.” Sanzang just nods. His heart is pounding it his chest. Something about this feels more intimate than he thinks it’s supposed to be.

He shivers more intensely when his coat is removed. Quickly, Wukong wraps arms around him and pulls him closer. The monkey is incredibly warm. No wonder the cold hasn’t been bothering him. Sanzang feels warmer than he has in weeks. He leans into Wukong more. The monkey pulls blankets up to cover them then holds him tighter. It’s as though Wukong is desperate for such physical contact. Sanzang recalls in childhood years learning that monkeys were much more physically affectionate than humans tend to be.

Wukong pulls him slowly to the ground into a lying position. Sanzang’s heart hammers against his chest. He hasn’t been held like this since...No, he can’t think about that now. Sanzang coughs violently. His chest hurts. Wukong rubs circles in his back in a somewhat soothing manner. “You alright?”

Sanzang only hums in response. His throat is too scratchy for words. He’ll at least need water later. But not right now. Right now, he’s warm and comfortable. Right now, Sanzang gladly lets himself fall asleep. When he wakes up, Wukong is still wrapped around him under the blankets. This time, however, there is a warm cup of tea for him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loopholes

The Abbot always used to say, “Every set of rules has a loophole or two.” They way their monastery followed the rules were not the same way many people thought they were supposed to be followed. That was why many of the monks were discreet about what they did. Men and women who were, as they had worded it, “born in the wrong body” were safe to discuss what their bodies were within the monastery. Outside in the town, where wandering ears could overhear, where wandering eyes could find the slightest abnormality, they had to be more careful.

Elder Sister and others never displayed their romances clearly to those outside the monastery. “Not exactly because I’m a woman who loves women,” Elder Sister explained. “A lot of people just don’t think monks should have relationships like I do.” She scoffed. “As though they are more familiar with what the rules are than we!” Xuanzang didn’t understand why couples would want to publicly display their affections when such a thing was so personal.

(Because hiding all the time is so difficult!)

(Are you going to interrupt every time I share these stories?)

One of the monks told Xuanzang why he rarely went out to the town. He said his chest was so difficult to hide, everything he tried left him with a feminine figure. Some of these monks would every so often be curled up on the floor in pain. Several of the female monks would suffer from this, too. Sometimes, they would manage to push through the day with just a mild discomfort. Other times, they would hardly move from the floor.

Everyone in the monastery had at least some understanding on how to help. Boiled water or anything warm to ease the pain, washed blood out of stained clothes and scraps of cloth, even gathering foods that supposedly help with the pain. The monks suffering from this are never talked down to, or made to feel like less because of it. It wasn’t something they could control, and it was more worrisome when it stopped happening.

One of the monks was attacked once. He was outside of the monastery and came across a trio of travellers from another town. The whole ordeal was hard enough on its own, and then the monthly week of red stopped. The monk was also sick also most every morning. Xuanzang had been too young at the time to understand what all of it meant. He didn’t fully know why one of the older monks spent so much time crying, but he knew the attack was worse than anyone thought before. Some months later, after a night filled with the monk’s screams, there was a new baby in the monastery.

One monk, who was frequently sick and always nervous, became frenzied when hers stopped. “Another way for my body not to work right!” she said. “What’s wrong with me now? What illness do I have!?!” A local doctor had told them the monk’s body was too weak and stressed to function like it was supposed to. A few months later, she died after a week spent sick in bed.

(What, you think  _ any _ of that stuff is gonna happen to me?)

(Wukong, please…)

(Alright, alright, I’ll stop interrupting.)

“Every set of rules has a loophole or two.” Xuanzang wasn’t very good at thinking through what those loopholes were. Sanzang still isn’t that good at it. It’s why he’d ask the Abbot so many questions on what he could do while still following the rules. He wanted to be prepared for when the Abbot was there anymore to show the loopholes for him.

“Are monks allowed to fall in love?”

“Of course! If you’re really, truly in love with someone, it would be a lot more suffering to deny those feelings exist.”

“Is-is kissing okay for monks?”

“I haven’t seen anything to say it isn’t. One of you just has to ask first.”

“Is...If…” Xuanzang was nervous about the question he wanted to ask. He’s been told it’s alright for teens like him to be curious about this stuff, but he’s still a bit embarrassed. “The people in the village say monks are supposed to be celibate, but I know that Elder Sister...how do...where’s the loophole?”

Abbot chuckled. “What the rules specifically talk about is intercourse between a male monk and a woman. As understand, you have no such interest in women, do you?” Xuanzang shook his head. His face was burning. “Then you don’t have much to worry about. Just remember, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, or if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“I-I understand.” He didn’t have such desires yet anyway. He just needed to understand the loophole. “Can...could there be a relationship  _ without _ the...um…”

“Of course it can.” Abbot smiled fondly. “No one has the right to make you do anything you don’t want to.”

The Abbot was a good man, ahead of his time. Despite whatever gossip a small few monks would swap amongst themselves. From where Sanzang stands, the man did everything right. Without what he learned, Sanzang likely wouldn’t be as close to his disciples as he is. Maybe he wouldn’t have made it as far in the Journey. Point being, he’s happy with where he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've actually written like 6-7 chapters already.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blood

Sanzang has gotten close to Wukong. Despite his best efforts to push him away, he cares  _ deeply _ for the monkey. This is not a good thing. Every so often, Wukong just disappears from the group. It’s never really for long, but it still pushes the monk to high levels of panic. There’s that voice is the back of his mind that says  _ he’s not coming back. He’s never coming back and it’s your fault. _

It doesn’t get much better when he discovers one of the reasons the monkey hides away so much. They all discover it when Wukong collapses to the ground with blood between his legs. Everyone is quick to act and assist. Sanzang is almost certain Wujing already knew of this, as he doesn’t appear fazed in the slightest. Bajie seems to at least know things that could help, but he doesn’t understand what Wukong  _ is. _

The monkey looks to be in more pain than what Sanzang understands to be normal. Wukong lies imobile with tears in his eyes. It’s concerning, but there isn’t much that the monk can do. Wujing and Bajie are already working on heating up some water (Something warm to ease the pain). Sanzang sits beside where Wukong is curled up in the dirt. “How can I help?” he asks. “What will make this better for you?”

Wukong lets out a whine. “You -- just --” He roughly grabs the monks wrist and pulls it closer to his head. Sanzangs fingers become slightly tangled in hair. He thinks he understands what is being asked of him. The monk gently sifts his fingers through his disciple’s hair. The monkey lets out a sigh and rubs at his eyes. He still keeps one hand gripping the monk’s wrist. “Thank you.”

It’s almost pitiful, seeing the Great Sage reduced to such a state. Has he been suffering through this by himself throughout their travels? Did he suffer through this in his centuries under the mountain? “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Sanzang pleads. “We could have helped.”

“I haven’t had this since I made Havoc in Heaven. I thought I was done with dealing with this,” Wukong confesses. “And it wasn’t as bad back then.”

Sanzang’s eyes widened. “You went  _ five hundred years _ without it?”

“Technically, a bit longer than that. We’d already been travelling for a few years when it started again. And as I recall, a day on heaven is a year on earth, so probably-”

“Were you not  _ concerned? _ ”

The Monkey King grunts and somehow curls in more on himself. He tightens his grip on Sanzang’s wrist. “The only concern I had was if I’d end up lying in a puddle of my own blood while pinned under a mountain! Forgive me for thinking being cooked alive for a month and a half might have gotten rid of this FUCKING problem!”

Sanzang yelps in pain. “Wukong, you’re holding too tight.” The monk tries to pry his wrist free, or at least loosen the grip.

Wukong releases his wrist and instead laces their fingers together. “Sorry…Can you finger through my hair again? It was nice.”

Sanzang does. He keeps one hand loosely intertwined with Wukong’s. A part of Sanzang wants to tell the monkey about the monastery where he grew up, so that he may know that the monk at least understands some of what this all means. “You don’t have to hide what you are, Wukong.”

“I’m  _ not _ a woman.”

“I know.” Sanzang always tries to make sure his company is a safe place to be. As safe as it can be considering the dangerous journey the group was on. “No one will call you one.”

Wukong eventually manages to sit himself up and walks off to find a stream or pond to bathe in. With the eldest disciple out of sight, Bajie takes the opportunity the approach Sanzang. “Master, I don’t understand,” he confesses. “It was my understanding that only women went through this monthly bleeding. But all the legends and stories I’ve heard refer to Wukong as a man.”

“He  _ is _ a man.” The pig still looks incredibly confused. Sanzang explains, “I knew some monks that were like that, as well. I think they explained it was being born with the wrong body. Despite what bodies they were born with, they had enough sense to understand what they were.”

“So...Wukong is still Eldest Brother?”

“I see nothing that would change that.”

Wukong returns from bathing in damp clothes. “I don’t have a spare set of clothes,” he explains. He sits beside the monk in a somewhat curled up position. “Sorry I caused us to delay.”

“You need not apologize for it. I only wish you had told us about it sooner.”

The monkey huffs. “I don’t tend to show off my weaknesses.”

“You need not suffer alone.” Sanzang can offer help or comfort. He  _ wants _ to help.

“I’m just used to handling it that way. It’s not often you come across someone who doesn’t think you’re  _ wrong _ , if get what I mean.” Wukong laughs bitterly. “I didn’t have to really explain it to you. I’m guessing you’ve known other men that go through this?”

The monk simply nods. Sharing stories from earlier in his life can wait for another time. He may not be trying to push Wukong away anymore, but once he starts sharing, he won’t be able to stop. Everything revealed at once would just be too overwhelming at this time.  _ Another time, _ he promises himself.

“Master, may I rest my head in your lap?” Wukong asks nervously. It’s still unusual to see the monkey so unsure of himself. “Forgive me, that request sounds so sudden. It’s just… I was thinking about it when you run your fingers through my hair before. Sorry, you don’t need to.”

“It’s alright, Wukong.” The thought had crossed Sanzang’s mind as well. He watches the eldest disciple shift to lay on his side. Dampness from his hair seeps into the monk’s clothes. Sanzang combs his fingers through the damp hair. It’s more tangled than Wukong usually has it. Perhaps he purposely left it like that, just for the excuse of having the monk run his hands through it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So close

Young Xuanzang didn’t often have nightmares. When he did, though, one of the older monk offered him comfort. Many would offer to share a bed after a less than pleasant dream. When he got older and no longer sought after such comfort, he still understood the need for such after a particularly terrifying nightmare. When he started on the journey west, he quickly realized that much of it would be a living nightmare on his own.

Sanzang didn’t realize he could get so lonely. After he started on the journey, and his two attendants killed, the only company he had was his horse. He knew that there was no way he could complete the journey like this. Sanzang would have to find at least somebody to travel with him. When he was found by the hunter, he  _ begged _ the man the continue on with him. It was honestly unfair to ask. The man had a family to provide for, but the monk couldn’t stand the thought of going on by himself. Luckily, he didn’t need to.

The demon monkey erupted from the mountain absolutely  _ naked. _ Sanzang fortunately averted his eyes before he noticed anything below the waist. He avoided looking  _ anywhere _ but the monkey’s face until they found some clothes for him. His new disciple didn’t seem  _ nearly _ as uncomfortable with his nudity. He even commented, “Monks are weird about nudity, aren’t they? I mean, even more so than humans tend to be.”

The monkey decided to make clothes of his own in a way that terrified Sanzang. Sun Wukong was truly powerful. With a single swing of his staff, the tiger didn’t simple die, but it’s head  _ exploded _ ! Wukong skinned the dead beast right there, and fashioned a short skirt from it. At the very least, if offered a bit more modesty. Still, they would need to find him more clothes.

Sanzang felt more comfortable to actually  _ look _ at him beyond just his face. To summarize his appearance, Wukong looked like a combination between human and monkey, probably because he was no typical monkey. While he was covered in fur, one could still see the shape of toned muscles. He was handsome, in a rugged way. Sanzang was never one for immediate physical attraction, so he can’t very well say the monkey’s form was one that brought him arousal. But he  _ can _ say he felt the urge to hug Wukong and maybe rest his head on his chest.

(You thought I was hot.)

(SUBJECTIVELY!)

Wukong was brutally violent at the start. Sanzang convinced himself that the monkey was absolutely  _ wicked _ . That he would lie and kill at any given moment just for his own gain or mere amusement. If anything, that made it easier to try and distance himself from his disciple. He absolutely could  _ NOT _ let Wukong get too close. Such a task would prove impossible.

The monkey was stubborn. He  _ constantly _ tried to get closer to the monk. He was always trying to find the best food for him. He went miles out of their way just to restock on Sanzang’s favorite tea. The monk tried to be harsher on him, unfairly so. He recited the Tightening Sutra when Wukong honestly didn’t deserve it. He banished Wukong more than once. And yet he always came back.

Wukong came back to rescue him from demons. Wukong came back and said, “You idiots always get yourselves in deep trouble if I’m gone for too long.” Wukong came back with a sweet, delicious peach from his home to offer the monk. Wukong came back with his beautifully crooked smile and firey gold eyes. Wukong came back and slept just as close to the group as he usually did.

Why? _ How?  _ **_Just what makes Sanzang worth coming back to?_ **

(EVERYTHING!)

(You’re exaggerating.)

Wukong had every right to stay away. To  _ hate _ the monk.

(Wait a minute!)

Sanzang was cruel and worthless and-

(SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE AND LET ME HUG AND WHISPER SWEET THINGS TO YOU!)

(....)

(....)

(....)

Sanzang’s first panic attack happened one winter morning when Wukong was nowhere to be seen. The night before, Sanzang fell asleep with the monkey curled up at his side. He tried to question his other disciples. “Where is Wukong?”

Bajie shrugged. “He’s probably gathering food or scouting the area.”

“How...how long has he been gone?” Something tightened in Sanzangs chest. It became harder to breath.

The pig shrugged. “I haven’t seen him since I woke up.”

“Master, you don’t look well,” Wujing noted from a pile of blankets. “Are you ill again? Eldest Brother might bring back good tea for you.”

He waited anxiously throughout the morning. Noon was approaching, and still no sign of the monkey. They hadn’t packed up camp yet, and Sanzang felt cold and dizzy. He still struggled to breath clearly. Bajie and Wujing watched on with worried looks. “He’s coming back,” they tried to assure him. It didn’t to overpower the voice from the back of his mind chanting  _ he’s gone he’s gone he’s gone he’s GONE! _

Sanzang passed out. He didn’t know when that happened. He didn’t even know it  _ had  _ happened until he was shaken awake. “Master, I got some real good tea. The others said you weren’t doing too well while I was gone.”  _ Oh, that sweet familiar voice. _ “Are you ill again?”

Sanzang didn’t say anything. He quickly wrapped his arms around Wukong and buried his face into the monkey’s shoulder. “Oh, did you get cold?” Wukong held the monk tight. “I’ll warm you up real quick. Sorry for taking so long. We were low on tea and other supplies.”

The two stayed like that for who knew how long. Sanzang felt like he could breathe again. His body calmed and his mind put at ease. Bajie and Wujing said nothing of Sanzang’s earlier panic, nor of the clear display of affection before them. It’s probably better that way. During that moment, Sanzang didn’t know exactly what his feelings were or what they meant. What he  _ did _ know was Wukong was there and safe and everything was okay.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taken

Sanzang and Wukong had an argument earlier. It wasn’t anything too bad. The monk just decided to step away from the group for a bit before he said or did anything he would regret. Of course, he gets captured by demons as soon as he’s alone. Truly, he should by now know better than to go so far from the group by himself. Every demon is out to get him, to eat his flesh and obtain immortality.

Sanzang is held in a cold, dank cave or dungeon. His arms and legs are bound with rusty chains. A longer, thicker chain connects him to the wall. He can hear his captures talk of how to celebrate, of how best to eat him, of how to keep his disciples from rescuing him. Sanzang trembles with fear.  _ Would they actually come to save him? _

They always do. Sanzang is always freed before being eaten or worse. But will they even know he needs saving? How long until they realize he hasn’t come back yet? How long until they start to worry? How long until they actually go out looking for him?  _ How long until they decide to save him? _

Sanzang shakes and trembles from both overwhelming terror and the coldness of his prison.  _ He’s going to die here. _ No, no. Wukong always comes in the end. He always comes to free him, often leaving the blood and corpses of demons in his wake.  _ Why would he come so soon after a fight? _ It’s true. It would be a while before Wukong comes.  _ If he comes. _

His captors argue loudly over what to do with him. One wants to  _ torture _ the monk, to forcibly take away a piece of physical innocence other demons have tried to persuade him to willingly give. It describes various dirty acts that make Sanzang feel sick to his stomach. “That’ll ruin the meal! Monks are supposed to be celibate!” the other rages. “His perfect monk lifestyle is part of what makes ‘im such a good catch! And  _ you’re _ up and ready to just  _ ruin that!? _ ”

“It doesn’t count if he’s  _ not willing _ ,” the first states. “And if the Great Sage manages to come and take him, the monk’s mind will be  _ shattered! _ We still win either way!” Sanzang feels like he’s about to cry.

“We’d still be dead!”

“But the damage would be done. The monk won’t be rescued in time, the monkey still fails to save the monk, and we still win.” His hands feel numb and his  _ chest hurts. _

“You are  _ wicked. _ And that’s coming from me!”

The demon laughs. “Let’s go back to decorations! We have a celebration to prepare!”

Sanzang can’t breathe.  _ He can’t breathe! _ His heart pounds painfully in his chest, he feels faint and weak, and  _ dear Gods, he’s going to die here! He’s going to die before these demons can kill and torture him. He’s going to die before Wukong can rescue him! _

_ He’s going to die he’s going to die he’s going to die no one’s coming he’s going to die he’s going to die alone alone cold and dead one will realize he’s here until he’s dead Wukong would be free to go on a rampage oh Wukong he’s sorry he’s sorry he’s sorry he’ _ **_s sorry he’s sorry he’s sorry he’s soRRY HE’S SORRY HE’S SORRY HE’S SORRY HE’S_ ** _ - _

The door to his prison explodes open. Sanzang jolts and cowers. “Master, you have  _ got _ to stop going off on your own like that!”  _ Wukong? _ “I heard those demons planning to- they didn’t, did they?” The monk hardly feels any more at ease. His bonds are quickly released one by one. “You’re all shaken up! What did they do? Did they hurt you?” The monkey’s words are filled with concern and rage.  _ Hopefully none of that rage is directed towards him. _

“N...n-” He can’t speak. He still can’t even  _ breathe _ right!  _ Is this even real? Is it real? _

“It’s okay now.” Wukong carefully and slowly drapes an arm across the monk’s shoulders. “I’m here, so no demon’s gonna get their hands on you like that.” Sanzang leans into the monkey’s side. It’s warm and familiar. The monk wishes they could stay like this until his breathing steadies, but they can’t.

Wukong sweeps the monk up in his arms. He tries to shield the monk from seeing the carnage brought upon the villainous demons. Sanzang doesn’t need to see it to know that it’s bloody, violent, and gory. Wukong carries him out of the demon’s lair. He doesn’t put the monk down when they get to the rest of the group. That may be partly due to the fact that Sanzang is gripping desperately onto the monkey’s shirt.

“What happened to Master? Is he okay?”

“He’s not hurt.” Wukong sits down with his back against a tree, still holding Sanzang in his arms. “He’ll be back to normal by morning. You two get camp set up.” The two younger disciples follows the older’s instruction, with only minimal complaints from Bajie.

Wukong holds him tight throughout the night. He whispers sweet reassurances into the monk’s ear. “I’m here. You here. We’re all safe.” His breathing becomes even, and his heart beats at a steady pace. Sanzang almost believes he feels Wukong tenderly kiss his forehead, but could such a thing really be possible? “You doing alright now, Sanzang?”

“Yes,” he answers in a meek voice.

“Can we...Is it alright if I shift just a bit? I want to hold onto you better, if you’d like that?”

“Yes please.”

Wukong moves the monk from where he was awkwardly seated in his lap. Sanzang is moved to a semi-lying position about halfway on top of the monkey. His ear is pressed against the center of Wukong’s chest, and a heartbeat could be softly heard. Their legs are somewhat tangled together. Wukong’s tail wraps around Sanzang’s waist, and he absentmindedly traces circles into the monk’s back.

Again, he thinks he feels a kiss on his forehead. “You could go to sleep now, Sanzang. If you want.”

He gladly does. He feels physically and emotionally drained. Now he’s warm and  _ safe. _ He wonders, as he drifts off to slumber, when did Wukong start calling him “Sanzang” instead of “Master?” After hearing his name repeatedly whispered into his ear so soothingly, the monk finds he doesn’t mind at all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is love?

Sanzang was never very good at talking about feelings. Especially something as complex as  _ romantic love. _ The only way it was easy was when he had to tell someone he had no such feelings for them. Such rejection was not something the queen of Women’s Country seemed to accept. “The gate to leave will only open with reciprocated romantic love!” she declared. “If you don’t marry me,  _ none of you _ will be able to leave!”

Marrying a woman is the last thing Sanzang would  _ ever _ want. If he’d ever have to marry someone, he’d much rather it be Wukong. Wait, no. He couldn’t think like this. They all had to figure out want to do. The gate couldn’t work exactly as she said. There had to be some other way around. “Every set of rules has a loophole or two” after all.

(You know, if you wanna get married, you could just ask)

(…)

(Woah, that’s a whole new shade of red on you!)

“All of this is complete nonsense!” Wukong complained when the group was actually,  _ finally _ alone. He paced back and forth, his tail swishing anxiously. “You agreeing to marry her would have  _ nothing _ to do with whether or not you love her! And if all it took was two people in love with each other, then you wouldn’t  _ need _ to get married!”

“We’ve only been here a few _ days _ ,” Sanzang said. “It’s  _ impossible _ for such romantic feelings to happen so quickly. It takes time for those feelings to develop.”

“How is it you seem to know so much about  _ romance _ , Master?” Bajie questioned. “I haven’t seen you take interest in a  _ single _ woman throughout our journey!”

“I  _ don’t have _ such interest in women.”

“Then you prefer men?” Wujing commented.

Sanzang felt his face flush with heat. The second disciple noticed the red spread across the monk’s face. “You’ve  _ slept _ with a-”

“ _ NO! _ ” He felt his face  _ burning _ . “I never- not even with- NO!” He was sure Wukong would laugh at his embarrassment. Maybe that big charming laugh would prove a good distraction. Instead, the monkey looked to be deep in thought.

“I have an idea,” he declares. “If that gate  _ does _ work like they say it does, than I think I know a loophole. Sanzang, I’ll need your help.”

The monk blinked. “M-me?”

“You’re the one she wants, so you’re going to have to fake it ‘til we make it.”

And so, Sanzang fake accepted the queen’s proposal, fake married her, and fake said goodbye to his disciples. Wukong promised to sneak back in the night to rescue the monk. He truly hoped he would come soon. The queen had looked rather eager to go make preparations to consummate their “marriage.” A knock on the windowsill quickly brought him to his feet.

Wukong was perched in the open window. Moonlight shone in his fiery gold eyes. The monkey wore a cocky grin. “Her loophole didn’t work.” He held out his hand for Sanzang to take. “Come on. We have to move quickly.”

Sanzang practically jumped right into Wukong’s arms. The monkey snuck the two past guards and servants. He carried the monk out of the city, but stopped a bit aways from the gate. He touched down on the ground and gently set Sanzang down on his feet. “Why are we stopping?”

“Reciprocate doesn’t just mean returning feelings. It can also mean responding to an action with a corresponding one. The queen might have been trying to exploit that little loophole the marriage stuff. But that’s not how you’d have naturally reacted, so it didn’t work.”

“But then...how do we leave?”

Sanzang  _ swore _ he saw red tint the monkey’s cheeks. “I- you- do you trust me?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

“Okay, I- sorry if this all seems a bit  _ weird _ .” Wukong took the monk’s hands in his own. Sanzang felt his face flush as realization dawned on him. Was he going to… “Just react how you  _ want _ to react, okay? Don’t force yourself to do anything.”

Sanzang’s heart pounded in his chest. Wukong brought the monk’s hands to his lips and gently kissed his knuckles. The two were standing close to each other. They could- No, that would be too much too soon. But he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. Sanzang needed-  _ wanted _ to do something to match his disciple’s affections. He took a deep, calming breath, and rested his forehead against Wukong’s.

He had so many things in that moment that he wished he had the nerve to say. He thought of how close he had gotten with the disciple over the course of the journey. He thought of winter nights wrapped up in each others arms. He thought of charming, sharp-toothed grins. He thought of fresh tea and sweet peaches Wukong got from somewhere far away. He thought of how desperately he wanted to get closer and closer to the monkey.

Wukong tilted his head up just slightly. Not enough for the lips to brush together, but enough that the tips of their noses touch. Sanzang could feel his breath on his face. Part of the monk wanted to ask if they could kiss. Another part wanted to simply stay like this in silent close company. The moment ended when Wukong hesitantly pulled away. “We have to get moving before someone finds us here,” he said softly. “Bajie and Wujing are probably gonna get tired of waiting on us at the gate.”

The gate opened with ease. The group quickly traveled as far from Women’s Country as they could before exhaustion took hold. In the morning, Sanzang thought quite a lot about that moment between him and Wukong before they left. It was to open the gate, right? Just so they could all leave and continue on their journey.

And yet, Wukong said the queen’s plan hadn’t worked because Sanzang didn’t mean any of it. So,  _ some _ of that had to be real for them to leave, right? There had to have been genuine affection between them, didn’t there? Sanzang wished he could talk to Wukong about this, ask questions he  _ needs _ answers to. Wukong was much more distant the following days. He would disappear for hours everyday, then come back without any explanation of where he went. Wukong slept a distance away from him, and it left Sanzang feeling cold and lonely. They couldn’t go on like this. They  _ needed _ to talk sooner or later.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confessions

Sanzang meditates in a clearing away from the others. Rather, he’s  _ trying  _ to. In all honesty, he’s just waiting for Wukong to get back. The monkey has been gone for several hours. It’s been a few weeks since they left Women’s country, things haven’t returned to normal. Maybe this is the new  _ normal _ . Maybe they took a step too far, and Wukong realized all of this was going to turn out to be one great big  _ mistake _ .

“Master, when are you and Eldest Brother gonna stop acting so strange?” Startled, the monk turns to see his youngest disciple. “Pardon me if I interrupted your focus.”

“What do you mean, Wujing? About us acting strange?”

“You two have been practically  _ avoiding _ each other since we escaped Women’s Country!” The fish walks over to the monk’s side, but doesn’t sit with him. “Obviously, you two did something that opened the gate, and you’ve both got feelings you’re trying to sort out. Second Brother said to just let you work through it on your own time, but it’s  _ painful _ to watch at this point!”

Sanzang blinks. “What...what do you mean?”

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

His face flushes. “How did… Is…” Sanzang sputters, and adds quietly, “I don’t know what I’m doing with all this.”

“He should be back soon.” Wujing turns to leave again. “You guys already act a bit like a married couple. Either just engaged or in the honeymoon phase.”

Sanzang’s face burns. Did they really _ …..married. _ The word feels odd in his mouth, and he didn’t even say it out loud. Not now… but maybe someday? His heart flutters at the thought of  _ someday _ . Would it even be something he’s allowed to have? He doesn’t remember any  _ weddings _ at his old monastery. Or… maybe there was one, now that he thought about it. Maybe-

“Sanzang!” The monk feels his heart jump. Wukong flies down on his cloud. “I have to talk to you!” The monkey touches down and sits besides Sanzang. He takes a minute to situate himself on the ground. Wukong turns to the monk with a light blush across his face. “I- How are you?”

“F-fine.” This is it, isn’t it? They’re going to talk about whatever it is their relationship is supposed to be.

“Good. I, uh, sorry for disappearing a lot.”  Wukong nervously scratches the back of his neck. “Just- I wanted ask around a bit for advice on-” he continuously stops and starts over with what he wants to say. That voice in the back of Sanzang’s mind says he’s trying to reject the monk without causing any anger or sorrow.  _ He’s trying to figure out how to say this where it hurts less. Whatever they were before is over. _

“Wukong it’s-”

Wukong cuts him off with a held up hand. “I’ve been practicing this for an hour,” he explains. “I just- I asked Guanyin about what to do and…” He sighs. “Back in Women’s Country, what we did wouldn’t have worked if it didn’t at least mean  _ something _ to both of us. I can only assume what it meant to you, but to me, it meant  _ a lot. _ ” Wukong turns his gaze to the ground. It is so unusual to see such a blush on the monkey’s face.

For an uncomfortably long moment, Wukong is silent. Sanzang’s heart swells with hope. Could it be?  _ Could it be? _

“It was nice.” Wukong continues. “Like,  _ really  _ nice.” He laughs in spite of himself. “I’d… I really want to do more things like that. With  _ you _ specifically… Is that okay with you?”

“Yes!” Sanzang answers so quickly, he surprises even himself. “I- I was-” The monk stutters. “Could we- um-”

Wukong quickly moves so the two are sitting face to face. He holds onto the monk’s hands. “And you don’t mind me? It doesn’t bother that I’m… I’m not-”

“Wukong,” Sanzang decides to make a bold move. He shifts closer to the monkey and presses their foreheads together. He says in a quiet voice, “You’re  _ you. _ And… I love you.”

For a moment, the two stay still. Sanzang starts to worry that maybe he said it too soon. Then, Wukong wraps arms around his waist and tackles him to the ground. He holds the monk so lovingly tight. Sanzang wraps his own arms around his neck. The monkey chants “I love you” repeatedly and rapidly, then trails off into a loud happy laugh. “I was  _ actually _ scared you’d say no! I kinda thought you might kick me out or something.”

“What would we ever do without you around?” Sanzang has one hand gently stroking the hair on Wukong’s head. Their foreheads are pressed together and their noses brush. The monk feels like his heart is overflowing with happiness.

“May I kiss you?” Wukong asks. “Sorry, maybe that’s too much. Is it too much for me to ask?”

“I  _ want  _ to.” Sanzang tilts his head just a bit. “I- I’ve thought about it a lot, actually.”

“It’s good to know I’m not the only one.” Their lips are so close together, Sanzang can feel every breath of the words. His heart is pounding in his chest. “Were you waiting for long?”

“Too long.” And he doesn’t have to wait any longer. Their lips meet and  _ oh, dear stars and heaven above. _ It is much more sweet and tender than the kisses he remembers from his teen years. It lasts for much longer, as well. Whatever words either of them struggles with before, the two now wordlessly communicate with this one action. It’s everything he’s dreamed it would be and  _ so, so much more. _ Sanzang finds himself not wanting this to end.

“Hey, Master, did Wukong ever-” They two quickly pull their lips away from each other’s. Sanzang takes a gasping breath as he realizes he forgot to  _ breathe _ . Wukong glared at Bajie, who stood frozen in shock. “Oh, I- I’ll just…” The pig awkwardly steps backwards. “I’ll…leave you two alone…” He turns on his heels and scrambles to leave the clearing.

Wukong and Sanzang lay together in silence for a moment. “Are you alright?” Wukong asks. “Your face is so  _ red _ .”

“Th-- w--” The monk can’t get a solid word out. His face feels like it’s  _ burning, _ and he just can’t seem to look Wukong in the eye. They were  _ caught! _ It probably looked like they were trying to do  _ a lot more than just kissing! _ How are they going to show their faces to the group again?

Wukong kisses his forehead. “The pig won’t go talking about it if he knows what’s good for him. Do you….wanna do that again? Or just…lay together for a bit?”

“I...yeah. Let’s...let’s lay.”

Wukong moves from on top of Sanzang. He flips them both over so they are laying on their sides and still facing each other. He keeps one arm around the monk’s waist, while his other arm is bent in a way to work as a pillow for the two of them. “Is this okay?”

Sanzang nods. His heart is still racing and mind still reeling from that kiss. He still feels overbearingly embarrassed but… he’s happy. Dear  _ stars!  _ He is just so  _ happy! _ When was the last time he felt this happy and bubbly inside? Did he ever?

“That was really, and I mean  _ really,  _ sweet,” Wukong whispers. “Could we do that more often?”

“I’d like that.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Touch starved

Winter had been Wukong’s excuse to hold his master close. The group didn’t have enough blankets and coats to keep the whole of them decently warm. Wukong may have not needed much more than a simple coat, but his youngest brother was cold blooded. The fish was at first unused to spending winter out of water. For a few years, Wujing would bundle himself up in so many coats and blankets, there was hardly enough for the rest of them. This may have been why the monk ended up falling ill.

Wukong said he found the empty cave. In reality, he carved it out himself. He purposely made it so he’d be alone with the monk. Wukong said he only wanted to warm up Master. In reality, that was only part of it. He was starved of affection. Five hundred years under a mountain, and all he wanted was a  _ hug _ . Luckily, he is very  _ very _ warm, so the monk leaned into his touch before Wukong can cover the two in blankets. The monk fell asleep quickly.

Wukong watched his mostly peaceful expression. It was late enough in the morning that the monkey couldn’t fall asleep himself. He was honestly surprised he was holding as still as he was. Usually, Wukong had too much energy not to shift and fidget around. Perhaps that was a statement to how much he had come to care for the monk.

Bajie popped in a few hours to ask what the plan was. Particularly, what the plan was for  _ breakfast _ . “What are you doing with Master?”

“Keeping him warm.” Wukong did his best to keep his voice down, as not to wake the monk. “As one would  _ clearly _ see.”

“Well, it looks a bit more like  _ something else _ .”

Wukong narrowed his eyes at the pig. “I don’t like what you’re trying to get at here.” He tried to be as threatening as he could given that he was currently snuggled up to their master under various blankets. “Hows about you go be useful and make some tea or something?”

Of course, Bajie complained, “I’d have to go out in the cold just to build the fire for the water!”

Wukong shushed his brother. “Who else is there to do it?” He whispered harshly. “I’m busy keeping master warm, and you saw how immobile Wujing is in the cold!”

Bajie didn’t dare continue to argue. He grumbled and left to presumedly start on the tea. Secretly, Wukong was thankful. He wouldn’t have been able to have a heated argument without waking the monk, and the man deserved to rest if only for a little while. Master coughed in his sleep, and Wukong rubbed circles into his back.

Wukong slept holding the monk every night that winter, even when there was no longer any illness to worry about. “Don’t want you to fall ill again,” he’d said. In all honesty, Wukong just liked being close to another being again. In fact, he  _ really _ liked being so close to the monk. It was almost odd. Wukong thought a lot about what that could mean. It was  _ different _ somehow from being close to his monkey friends and family. There was a stronger longing that he couldn’t quite understand.

When winter melted away, Wukong no longer had an excuse to sleep so close to the monk. Ultimately, he’s thankful to have slept alone when he woke up to the distantly familiar aches below his gut. A quick peek under his blanket confirmed his fear: he was sitting in a pool of his own blood. “The fuck?” Wukong cursed quietly, “This shit is back?”

The monkey hadn’t had this monthly problem since a bit before he caused havoc in heaven. Truly, he thought that being in Laozi’s Brazier of the Eight Trigrams had somehow stopped this for good. Now, he found himself washing blood out of his clothes in a stream nearby. Wukong decided it’d be better not to let the others find out about this, since he’d dealt with more than enough people who had a problem with it.

Hiding proved to be far more difficult than he expected. I was  _ worse _ than he remembered it being. He couldn’t predict when it would come, often times there was a lot of blood, and it  _ fucking hurts! _ It hurt  _ way more _ than he ever remembers it hurting. Not to mention that fact that the monk was now anxious about Wukong sneaking off on his own. He only hid it for about half a year before he stopped in the middle of walking and curled up in the ground where he stood.

Everyone quickly moved to check on the monkey and did what they could to help. Wukong doesn’t remember much of what happened before he went off to bathe, but he remembers very clearly the monk combing fingers through his hair. The monk was gentle, and actually understanding of the eldest disciple’s situation. Surely, Master had known of other men who had to deal with this, otherwise he’d have been asking why Wukong was a woman or something of the like.

Despite the theories of some, Wukong did  _ not _ leave his hair tangled as an excuse to have the monk comb through his hair again. In truth, he didn’t bother with untangling himself because he  _ expected _ the monk to do it again. At the time, the monkey couldn’t think of any reason he  _ wouldn’t _ . The only thing he felt unsure about was asking to rest his head in his lap. But it was all he thought about while Master finger combed his hair before, so he asked anyway.

Again, Wukong thought about his feeling for the monk. Those feelings were beyond just those of friendship, weren’t they? This wasn’t something one usually felt towards family, either. When the realization struck him, a single thought went through his mind. “Oh, shit. I’m in love with a  _ monk. _ ” This guy put this golden hoop around his head to discipline him, this guy got himself kidnapped by demons more often than the typical human, and Wukong was  _ in love _ with him? How in the hell did  _ that _ happen?

(I don’t mean that like a  _ bad  _ thing!)

(Surely.)

(I meant, like, that wasn’t usually my type, you know? It was just surprising, that’s all.)

(It’s alright, Wukong.)

Wukong found himself craving touch even more than before. Any excuse could think of to get close was good enough for him to try. The pains that came with his period could get fingers running through his hair. Cold weather got him at best warm snuggles under blankets. Nightmares were a bit more embarrassing to use as an excuse, and were usually the times he most craved closeness. Typically, Wukong would just move himself to a closer spot and watch the monk sleep. It may have sounded strange, but it was usually enough.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya get 2 chapters today cuz I forgot to put one up yesterday

Wukong doesn’t sleep alone anymore. Him and Sanzang are  _ something _ . Not  _ lovers _ , that would be misleading. Not  _ engaged _ or  _ married _ , that is a whole nother confession to prepare. They are  _ something. _ The two fall asleep snuggled together on most nights if they can get away with it. Tonight, they had an actual bed to sleep in and a room separate from the other two disciples. The pair fell asleep with Wukong wrapping his arms around the monk from behind. It’s how he wakes up from a nightmare that night.

It was a typical nightmare for the monkey, leaving him with feelings of loneliness and helplessness. He awakes with a jolt that will likely wake up Sanzang. He tightens his grip on the monk and buries his face in the back of his neck. The monkey tries to focus first on breathing right again.  _ In and out. In and out. In and out. _

Sanzang shifts a bit in his arms and murmurs sleepily, “Wukong?”

“‘M fine. Just a dream.”

Sanzang tries to turn over. It’s not an easy task with the way Wukong is holding him, but the monk finds a way to at least flip onto his back. He puts one hand gently over the monkey’s arms at his waist. With his other hand, he runs fingers through messy hair. “Do you need anything? A cup of tea? A short talk?”

“No,” Wukong mumbles into his neck. He breathes deeply, taking in the monk’s scent. “Just need a minute or two.”

“It’s okay.” Sanzang goes so quiet, Wukong almost believes he’s fallen back to sleep. The fingers still stroking his hair lets him know that’s not true. The monkey wonders if the monk is awake enough to ask for a kiss.  _ Oh, _ would a kiss be nice right now. It would  _ definitely _ help the nightmare fade from his memory faster.

“Sanzang,” he whispers into his ear. “How awake are you right now?”

“Yeah.” Sanzang starts to shift again, and Wukong loosens his hold enough for the monk to turn over to completely face him. “What did you need?”

“I was just wondering if… as long as you’re not too tired… maybe we could kiss for a bit?”

Sanzang hums in thought and presses their foreheads together. “No one would walk in on us, would they?” he asks. “Not this late in the night?”

“Not unless we make much noise, but how loud can a simple kiss get?” Wukong knows that kissing can in fact get pretty loud if it’s intense enough. Although, they are hardly at any point of getting  _ nearly _ so intense. “But only if it’s okay with you.”

Sanzang keeps one hand in his hair, and brings up the other to cup Wukong’s face. He smiles sweetly. “Just for a bit.”

Wukong closes his eyes and leans in. The monk’s hands guide his face to where their lips can meet.  _ Damn _ , is kissing him sweet. It’s sweeter than peaches and heavenly wine, which is really something coming from him. His insides feel fuzzy and bubbly. The kiss doesn’t even last a full minute, and the nightmare has all but faded from his mind. Wukong has a dreamy smile on his face when they pull away.

“What did you dream about?”

“Don’t ‘member.”

Sanzang looks at him worriedly. “Something that’s enough to frighten  _ you  _ of all people _ , _ and you’ve already forgotten what it was?”

Wukong laughs softly. “That kiss was simply so sweet, such a bad dream was banished from my mind.”

“Are you really okay?” It’s sweet of the monk to worry so much for him. It’s really unnecessary, though.

“I’m not one to think about nightmares for too long,” he confesses. “I prefer to distract myself until I forget it or at least stop thinking about it. You helped. I promise.”

“Is that really…” Sanzang trails off into a yawn.

“I believe it’s time to sleep again.” Wukong kisses his forehead.

“You should talk about it.”

“In the morning. Maybe we could  _ both _ talk about our fears.”

Sanzang blinks. “Both?”

“I’m curious. Is that bad?”

Sanzang yawns. “I suppose not…I love you.”

“I love you too.” Wukong watches the monk fall asleep in his arms. His face is just so incredibly peaceful. Perhaps the monk will forget about the promise to talk about their fears in the morning. Not that he would mind either way. It may be good for him to talk about things like that. And he is particularly curious about Sanzang’s past.

Wukong allows himself to drift back to sleep. He wakes up again just past dawn. Sanzang is awake already, but he chose to stay in the monkey’s arms. “Good morning,” the monk greets cheerfully, following up with a kiss on the cheek.

A smile spreads across Wukong’s face. “Truly a lovely morning.” He kisses the monk on the forehead. “Did you sleep well?”

“Well enough.” Sanzang cups his face with both hands. He turns serious. “Do you remember your nightmare last night?”

Wukong thinks for a moment. “I remember  _ having _ one, if that’s what you mean.”

“Do you… remember what it was about?”

Wukong shrugs. “Probably the usual. Shouldn’t we be getting up now?” He sits himself up, sadly pulling himself away from the monk in the process. “Bajie and Wujing may know to knock first, but I don’t know about our generous hosts.”

Sanzang sits up and quickly grabs onto Wukong’s hand before he can leave the bed. “Wait, you… I remember you promised to talk in the morning.”

“I’m not avoiding it. I’m just trying to avoid someone seeing us and making false assumptions.”

“Can’t we-” Sanzang cut himself off. Surely, he saw the logic in that. “I…I’d still like to talk…” he says softly.

Wukong sighs in defeat. He just can’t say no to that small, sad voice. “Alright…” The monkey turns around and sits cross-legged facing Sanzang. “Usually my nightmares are about...being alone under the mountain again, or-” He stopped himself short. So  _ that’s _ what the nightmare was about. Oh shit.

Sanzang tilts his head. “Or what?”

“Later,” Wukong promises. He wraps his arms around the monk and rests his chin on his shoulder. “After we get away from any prying ears.” It won’t matter anyway. After their journey was done, the monk would likely be granted immortality. It didn’t matter how mortal he was  _ now, _ Wukong would always be here to make sure he was safe.


	11. Chapter 11

Now a days, when humans tell of his tales and legends, they tend to think Wukong emerged from the rock as a full grown adult. Granted, he wasn’t as small and weak as a newborn babe either. He was about the physical age and appearance of a toddler. The Stone Monkey was taken in by the local population of monkeys. Not once while living with them did he think and refer to himself as anything other than male. And no one tried to question him.

Once he left in search of immortality, he discovered that humans were just plain  _ weird. _ They insisted on wearing clothes almost  _ all _ of the time. The Monkey King was familiar by now with the monthly bleeding from between his legs. He knew how to to get blood out of fur, but he wanted to know how to wash it out of clothes. When he first asked someone how humans tended to deal with it, they turned  _ incredibly  _ rude.

A human man scowled at him. “Do I  _ look _ like a woman to you?” he sneered. “You’re mother should have taught you that!”

“But I don’t have one.” The comment went unheard as the man stormed off away from the monkey.

A human woman had decided to actually be helpful. “You need to use pieces of cloth to soak up the blood, then wash those out quickly and let them dry in the sun.” She actually taught him how to wash blood out of cloth, and even let him take a bath in the pond near her home. “Let me get you some fresh new clothes, dear. Even if it’s all you can afford, young girls mustn’t be wondering around in dirty men’s clothes.”

Monkey King’s face crumbled up in confusion. “I’m  _ not _ a young girl.”

The woman stared at him for a moment, then put on this sickeningly sweet smile. “You don’t have to pretend with me,  _ Miss _ . My brother and I can protect you and take care of you.” She brought her hands together cheerily. “I am certain you’d be just a  _ lovely _ little wife!”

He left that place as soon as he finished cleaning himself and his clothes. From that point on, he decided that he’d have to hide a bit more from now on. Too many people thought he was supposed to be a woman. A stupid concept, really, but humans seemed to be pretty stupid. When he found someone to teach him immortality, he also found people who weren’t as stupid.

Wukong’s master had a mix of male and female students. He was practically a father to all of them. While none of the other students like Wukong, where some would wrongly call them a girl or the like, the Master at least knew that such people existed. He taught the monkey that people would still try to tell him he’s wrong, maybe even try to kill him or worse. So, the Master taught him how to fight. A rather fun skill to have, in Wukong’s opinion.

He became powerful. He was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, a title earned in no small feat. He was feared by many. No one  _ dared _ question strange bloodstains on his pants, or if he was truly a man. If they did, it wasn’t out loud where the King could hear them. Otherwise, they’d be dead. Wukong never did actually find out what exactly was Heaven’s opinion on those like him.

The point is, Wukong hadn’t dealt with asshole who thought they knew him in a really  _ really _ long time. He might have been a bit out of practise. Somehow, the demon Wukong and Bajie were fighting figured out what Wukong was. It was probably a recent bloodstain. He was about due for that again soon. He’d go off real quick to check while Bajie handled the demon, but it kept  _ taunting _ the monkey.

“A  _ woman! _ The beast that caused havoc in heaven is a  _ woman! _ ” The demon laughed, because apparently, making false statements was  _ hilarious _ .

“He is  _ not _ a woman!” Bajie yelled angrily. Wukong was taken a bit aback.  _ Bajie? _ Defending  _ him? _ That was kinda new.

“Oh, you didn’t know either, did you?” the demon jeered. “You didn’t bother to question the bloodstains, did you? But my nose is stronger than yours, and I know the smell of a  _ woman menstruating. _ ”

“Menstruation doesn’t make him any less a man!”  _ Huh. _

The demon dropped it’s mocking smile. “Now you just aren’t making sense.”

“Hey, I gotta go check on something,” Wukong interjected. “You look like you’ve got this handled, Bajie!” With that, he zipped off to find a nearby stream or lake. He took a few minutes to wash out what blood was already there, which luckily wasn’t much. The monkey did his best to dry out his pants before he puts them on again. Fortunately, he still had a scrap of cloth in his pocket from last time, so he didn’t have to go all the way back to camp to get some.

Wukong returned to Bajie and the demon as stealthily as he could. He had it admit, he was kinda impressed by his younger brother. But still, Wukong wanted to get some hits on this bastard, too. As it turns out, the first hit he got in was the hit that killed the monster. The monkey looked at its corpse sadly. “Well, at least I got  _ one _ good hit in.”

“Big Brother, are you alright?” The pig asked concerned.

“Of course I am! I haven’t run into assholes like that in a  _ looong _ while.” Wukong kicked at the demon’s blood soaking into the dirt. “You did good, though. Might have killed it yourself if I didn’t come back.”

His younger brother enjoyed the praise. It was well deserved praise, too. Usually the two were at ends with each other, always fighting. This was one of few moments when the two acted more like they were actual brothers or friendly rivals. Frenemies with most of their fights being all in good fun, but jumping to defend the other when things got serious.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walmart run

Entering the modern world had been Wukong’s idea. It was also his idea to move to America for a bit. Nothing against his home country, but it was easier to lay low here. There also weren’t as many glares for simply holding Sanzang’s hand. Heck, the law here would allow them to get married if they wanted! That’s an idea to save for another time, though.

It’s now round the start of winter. They’ve only been here for about a month or so, and there are  _ still _ things that Wukong struggles to wrap his head around. He stares at the neatly handwritten shopping list in his hand. “I don’t get why I need to replace my cloth scraps!” he says in Cantonese, frustrated. “It’s always worked just fine!”

“Those are  _ centuries _ old, for one thing.” Bajie snatches the list out of his hand. “Second, weren’t  _ you _ the one who put that stuff on the list?”

“I didn’t expect to lose my scraps!” Wukong puts his hands on his hips. “What if the store stuff turns out to be  _ shit? _ ”

“With how long humans have been using them, it can’t be  _ that _ bad, can it?”

“Okay, you  _ might _ have a point there.” The two stop in front of the entrance to the local superstore. “Why do you have to come with anyway?”

“Because last time, you got extra stuff and took too long.”

“If we’re living in this world, we  _ gotta _ have internet!” Wukong walks ahead into the store. “You’ve got the list. I’ll just go grab my stuff and text you incase you figured out that phone yet.” He fast-walks away before he gets any reply. He got his bearings last time he was here, so Wukong already knows where to go. With a grimace, he walks into a section of an aisle labeled “feminine hygiene.”

Shelves are filled with too many kinds of products for the monkey to quickly understand what he needs. These “pads” come in so many sizes and absorbances and brands, and it looks like these might be easier to use with women’s underwear instead of the boxers he got last week. And then there were these….tampons. Just how did these  _ work? _ Wait….

Wukong looked more closely and squinted at the box. Were these supposed to go…  _ inside?! _ He quickly pulls the box away from him.  _ What difference did that make!?! _ Not even just of it, but the  _ whole thing? _ Wukong pulls out the phone he got not long after they came here. There has  _ got _ the be some sort of advantage to this! A quick internet search should provide some answers, right?

“First time buying for your girl, I see.” Wukong is startled just a bit. He’s been approached by an oldish woman with a kindly smile. “I know that look on  _ any _ boy’s face!”

“I, uh….” He can’t just say these are for  _ him. _ Someone with his body in this age would have grown up knowing what to get. But this woman has actually already provided a good cover story for him:  _ he’s shopping for someone else. _ Wukong puts on a nervous yet charming smile. “Yeah, I’m pretty clueless here!” He holds up a box of tampons in one hand, and and package of pad in the other. “I’m just trying to find out which of these are better.”

“Oh, it tends to be just personal preference, dear, BUT!” The woman steps closer and points to a package on the shelf. “I recommend  _ at least _ the longer overnight pads. And if you don’t know if she prefers tampons or pads, get some regular ones of both.” She smiles at him again. “I hope that helps!”

Wukong smiles back. “Thank you very much!”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all!” The woman moves on to continue with her shopping. “You’re a sweet young man! Remember to get her some dark chocolate! It helps!”

Again, he thanks her. She may have known these were for  _ him _ , but she still helped quite a bit. Wukong picks out the cheapest options for what she recommended. He holds all three packages with one arm, then uses his free hand to text Bajie.

**Me:** I don’t know what half of this stuff is supposed to do, so I got like 3 things

**Pigsy:** I’m still in produce

**Me:** Then I’m coming to produce

Wukong starts walking quickly to the part of the store with fresh produce. Both the “feminine hygiene” section and the produce sections were if the front side of the store, just one is on the left side and the other on the right. He walks by the registers on the way. The strange feeling of possibly being watched washes over him. It’s probably nothing, though. There aren’t many people here now anyway.

He finds Bajie picking out tomatoes. “You were worrying about the store stuff not being worth it, and now you’re getting  _ three? _ ”

“There is a  _ lot _ of different kinds of stuff,” Wukong explains as he empties his arms into his brother’s shopping cart. “This was, like, the  _ least _ I could get to figure out what works and what doesn’t. We got much left on the list?”

Bajie holds up the list to read it. “I think we still need rice and, uh-”

Wukong, being impatient, snatched the list from him and reads over it himself. Rice, flour, a sweet note for him from Sanzang saying he could get some sweets if he wanted. He smiles at the note. “I’m pretty sure the rice and flour are close to each other.” Wukong starts walking and waves for Bajie to follow.

“You two just don’t  _ stop _ with the cute stuff, do you?” He says, annoyed.

Wukong smirks. “There’ll be a  _ lot _ more cute stuff if he figures out phones.” He laughs at the face his brother makes. “If you’re so  _ jealous _ , just find your  _ own _ partner.”

The two collect the last of the groceries, and Wukong makes sure to grab chocolates like the woman suggested. All that’s left to do is check out, which  _ should _ be easy. It would have been if the cashier didn’t decide he had issues with what they were buying. “You got a girlfriend or sister in the bathroom or something?” The guy is clearly pointing at the things Wukong picked out. The monkey gets the strong feeling that this guy is wants to be a problem, so he prepares to become a smiling pile of just barely polite rage.

“Um, no?” Bajie says, somewhat confused. “It’s just us two.”

“Then why the hell do you wanna buy have this shit?” The cashier picks up one of the packages of pads. “Guys don’t  _ get _ periods!”

Before Wukong utter his ready excuse of buying them for someone else, Bajie responds, “Some guys do, though.”

The cashier just stares at the pig. “Dude, that’s gross! How does that even  _ work? _ ” The long the guy holds the package, the more  _ rage _ Wukong feels towards him.

“I thought kids were taught this stuff in school these days.” His voice is cold and slow. It’s always been his way of threatening someone without directly saying such. Bajie recognizes the tone of voice, and takes a small, frightened step back.

“Guys don’t bleed from their dicks!” The cashier gets glares from other other shoppers and cashiers.

“I think we’d like to take our  _ shit _ and go home.” Oh, is Wukong just  _ itching _ to fight. He mutters harshly in Cantonese,  _ “Someone hold me back before I accidentally kill someone.” _

Bajie puts hands on his brother’s shoulders. The cashier looks so  _ scared _ , and Wukong just feels so  _ pleased _ about that. “Did you just- I’m getting the manager! Just wait here!”

The manager shows up without the cashier. Sounds like someone complained about the cashier a bit earlier. The manager scans the rest of their items and checks them out.  _ Finally, _ they can head home.  _ Took long enough. _

They manage to carry all of the shopping bags themselves. The chocolates, pads, and tampons are in their own bag held tightly in Wukong’s fist. “Wukong,” Bajie starts hesitantly, “are you… okay?”

“Just ready to get back. See if Sanzang has that phone figured out.”

“I don’t think we’ll be on shopping duty anytime soon.”

Wukong laughs. “Probably not.” When they arrived back at the house, the first thing Wukong does is walk up to Sanzang and rest his head on his shoulder. The monk doesn’t ask any questions yet. He wordlessly wraps arms around Wukong in a gentle hug. Best part of his day, in his opinion.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talk about it

Wukong didn’t really talk much about his feelings. Not the bad ones, anyway. Sanzang had asked him more than once to talk about whatever was bothering the monkey. And still, he wouldn’t say anything other than “I’m fine” or “You don’t need to worry about it, really.” His love’s way of dealing with things seemed to be just distract until he wasn’t upset anymore.

Sometimes, when Wukong was  _ really _ upset, he wordlessly wrapped arms around Sanzang and buried his face usually in the monk’s shoulder. Sometimes, when asked if he’s okay, Wukong will respond honestly with a small sounding “no.” Other times, the monkey would just hold Sanzang tighter and bury his face deeper. The best thing the monk found he could do so far was hold Wukong gently and run fingers through his hair.

He wanted to help  _ more _ . Whenever Sanzang had his panic attacks, Wukong always knew  _ exactly _ how to help. He held him close and whispered sweet, calming reassurances. He kissed the monk on the forehead or cheek. It all calmed Sanzang quickly. Panic attacks started happening less and less frequently. However, nothing the monk did seemed to lessen Wukong’s nightmares.

Whenever they slept snuggled close together, Sanzang would wake up when the monkey jolted awake from a nightmare. If they weren’t able to sleep so close, the monk just might wake up to Wukong scrambling to get closer. He insisted that this was fine. “You’re helping. I promise, you’re helping.” But Sanzang knew there was more help he could give.

One night, the monk tried a new tactic. The two were lying down with Wukong hugging him close and resting his head against Sanzang’s chest. With fingers running through the monkey’s hair, he shared stories. He started with the monastery where he grew up, with the Abbot and Elder Sister and “every set of rules has a loophole or two.” He talked about his curious teen years with all of his questions. He didn’t know how to find loopholes himself, not even now.

“It’s not  _ too _ hard,” Wukong uttered. “You just gotta think of the different ways the words could be taken. Find words with multiple meanings, that kind of stuff.”

“I’m still not very good at that.”

“Then I’ll find the loopholes for you. I’m pretty good at it, you know.”

Sanzang continued on to talk about his first crush. He was worried Wukong might find it awkward or weird to talk about that now, since the monk didn’t explain beforehand where he was going with these stories. Thankfully, the monkey only found the story  _ hilarious. _ “That’s just so  _ you! _ Even now, you’re so shy about asking for kisses or hugs!” He kissed the monk’s face. “Don’t worry about it, though. I find it cute.”

Blushing, the monk went on with his story. He talked about when his crush disappeared from the monastery, which Wukong  _ again _ had a comment on. Sanzang very briefly explained his adventure in finding his family. He said just enough so there would be context in talking about his mother. The monkey wanted  _ more. _

“Why are you just breezing past that? That sounds so interesting!”

“Could you please not interrupt? I’m going somewhere with this. I promise to tell you  _ that _ story another time. Okay?”

“I’m holding you to that.”

The monk moved on to his mother’s death. The only interruption Wukong had was an exclamation of surprise. Sanzang talked about the shock and surprise when he heard the news. He talked about the fear that  _ maybe _ it was all his fault, and the moment he decided to keep people distant. “That didn’t work though,” he said. “You came along and nothing I could ever try would keep me distant from you.”

Wukong pushed himself up and repositioned himself so that he was somewhat on top of the monk, looking face to face. “I won’t die on you,” he started, “I  _ can’t  _ die on you, since I’m immortal. And I’m just gonna leave and never come back. I’ll  _ always _ come back for you. I know you want me to talk about my fears and nightmares, but they’re pretty irrational.”

Sanzang pulled the monkey’s head closer so their foreheads were pressing together. “I worry for you,” he whispers, “You  _ say _ everything’s fine, you say I don’t _ need  _ to, but I still  _ worry _ .”

“They’re just nightmares. Just-” Wukong took a deep breathe. “Alright…  _ Sometimes _ , I dream about being stuck under the mountain again for whatever reason. There could be a million different things going on, but that seems to be one of the only things these dreams have in common. I’m trapped and alone and  _ I can’t get to you _ . So really, just being here, and letting me hold you, it  _ helps. _ ”

Sanzang kissed the tip of Wukong’s nose. “Thank you for talking about it.”

Wukong tilt his head and closed half of the distance between their lips. He waited patiently for the monk to close the rest of the distance. Happily, Sanzang pressed their lips together. The monkey hummed and held him tighter. He moved himself completely on top of the monk. The kiss was sweet and warm and  _ deep _ .

Wukong pulled away and asked, “Would you be interested in finding any… loopholes tonight?”

Sanzang felt heat spread across his face. “Only if… it depends on just what exactly you’re thinking of doing.”

Wukong wore a smile. “I have few ideas, and we should have enough privacy right now.” The monkey leaned into the monk’s ear and whispered things that made him blush furiously. Sanzang was just barely able to speak out an answer. All the same, Wukong’s hands were warm and gentle.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> phone calls

Cellphones are probably one of the best things for Sanzang to discover in the modern world. If any of the group goes off somewhere and forget to tell anyone, just a quick text or phone call can let him know where they are and nothing bad is happening. Through texting, the monk and Wukong could have a more private conversation without leaving the room. If the two were some distance away from each other and either in need of the other’s comfort, a simple phone call would be at least enough for the time being.

There were still more uses of his cellphone that Sanzang was still trying to figure out. He didn’t even notice the camera feature until Longma pointed it out. There were also other picture apps like “Snapchat” or “Instagram.” This Internet stuff overall is just so vast and complex. Wukong and Longma seemed to have taken to it rather quickly, though. The two help the monk out with it when they can.

Currently, Sanzang was sitting on the floor of his shared bedroom doing a deep drive into the internet. He started from a simple search of “pride flags,” as he’d heard someone at a coffee shop talking about them, and the monk was very much intrigued. He’s learning a lot of terms he wishes were around before. There’s also terms for things he didn’t know were real. Some of these things feel almost uncomfortably relatable to the monk.

The phone starts ringing and buzzing in Sanzang’s hands. He sees Wukong’s name and the contact picture the monkey had insisted on taking himself. He processes the button to accept the call and holds the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, Sanzang!” Wukong’s voice holds just a hint of anxiousness. “You’re still at the house with everyone, right?”

“Yeah, though I think Bajie might have left for something a while ago?”

Wukong hisses under his breath, “ _ I forgot he had that tonight.” _

“Had  _ what _ tonight?”

“Nothing really. I’m on my way back already, so I’ll just worry about it later.”

Sanzang moves to get up from the floor. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah! I was just a bit nervous about something before, but it’s fine.” There’s the faint sound of a crowd. “I can wait on it for a while. You guys have dinner yet?”

“Uh, yeah. A bit ago.” Sanzang sits down on the edge of the bed. “What were you nervous about?”

“I’m, uh…” Wukong trails off. He’s silent for a moment. “I can’t say right now, or today. But  _ hopefully _ , it won’t be all that long before I  _ can. _ I’m almost back. See you in a bit, okay?”

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you too.” The phone makes a noise as Wukong ends the call. Sanzang holds the phone away from his face and stares at it for a moment. Something feels just a bit off. The monkey is hiding something. Although it doesn’t seem to be anything  _ bad _ , the monk still feels anxious.

Sanzang gets up and starts walking downstairs. If it’s nothing too bad, he can’t force Wukong to talk about it. If it proves to be a continuous problem that bothers the monkey,  _ then _ Sanzang can try to push him to talk. Right now, the monk is thirsty. He walks into the kitchen to get himself a cup of water or tea. Longma is there still cleaning dishes from dinner.

“You need something?” the dragon asks.

“I… just some water.”

Before Sanzang can move, Longma grabs one of the cups he cleaned, fills it with water from the sink, and hands it over to the monk. “Here.”

“Uh, thank you.” Sanzang takes a sip from the glass.

“No problem.” There’s the sound of the front door unlocking and opening. “Go on to your boyfriend,” Longma says, turning back to the dishes. “Just bring the cup back eventually.”

Sanzang blushes at the word “boyfriend,” but he hears Wukong call out, “I’m back, guys!” He doesn’t want to wait around much longer, so he quickly walks towards the front entrance to greet the monkey. Wukong just finished taking off his shoes when the monk approaches. He smiles and wraps his arms around Sanzang’s waist, careful of the glass of water. “You miss me much?”

The monk feels a smile spread across his face. “Very much so.”

Wukong takes the cup of water from his hands and sets it down on a nearby side table. “Even though we were on the phone just a few minutes ago?”

Sanzang wraps his arms around the monkey’s neck. “That’s not the same, and you know it.” He brings his face closer to shorten to distance between their lips.

Wukong hums. “I can’t argue with you there.” He closes the distance with a sweet and tender kiss. Sanzang puts his fingers in his hair.

“If you guys are planning on making out,  _ please _ don’t do it at the front door!” Wujing calls from another room. The pair pulls away. “Seriously, Bajie still isn’t back, and who knows who’s going to show up at our door!”

Wukong let’s go of Sanzang’s waist and picks the glass of water back up. “Do you wanna go upstairs?” He holds onto one of the monk’s hands. Sanzang nods, and he’s lead up the stairs again to their bedroom. The monkey calls back to his brother, “Since you want us to get a room so bad, we’ll go. See you in the morning.”

When the two get to their room, Wukong hands Sanzang his water and closes the door behind him. “Anything you wanna do tonight?”

Sanzang sits down on the bed and takes a sip of water as he thinks. “What were you nervous about before?”

Wukong sighs. “I told you, I can’t tell you yet.” He sits on the bed next to the monk. “Just… it’s supposed to be a surprise. I’m not telling anybody, so you aren’t being left out on anything, okay?”

Sanzang takes another big sip from his water. “Okay.” He leans over to rest his head on the monkey’s head. Wukong in turn wraps an arm gently around the monk’s waist and pulls him closer. Sanzang sinks into the touch.

“So, I’m gonna ask again.” Wukong plants a kiss on his cheek and whispers into his ear, “Anything you wanna do tonight?”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last One out of Beach City

Wukong and Sanzang spend a lot of time with each other. That is just how things are, and it’s fine. The only problem was Bajie and Wujing sometimes need another person for their mischievous trio sometimes. Or maybe they just want Longma to feel included. Whichever, the dragon was not the type for their particular brand of mischief. Although, he  _ has _ gotten used to them asking. Maybe that’s why he’s partly pissed off about what the two disciples were talking about now.

“How’d you hear about a rock show so far away?”

“I don’t know.” Bajie sighs. “You sure it’s too far to walk?”

“It’s a town over. It’s almost an hour on foot.” Wujing pulls out his phone. “What about that ‘Uber’ thing?”

“I have a car, you know,” Longma calls from the couch.

The two look at him. “It be too much gas to just drop us off and pick us up, wouldn’t it?”

“Then I’ll hang out at this ‘rock show’ with you guys.”

“There’s going to be a crowd of people there,” Wujing warns.

“Yeah,” Bajie agrees. “And are you even into this kind of music?”

Longma sits himself up on the couch. “Maybe I just feel like going out tonight!” He gets up from the couch and starts walking towards the stairs. “I’ll go change clothes, and we can go get snacks for the road.” He quickly puts on a black jacket and a pair of ripped jeans from the back of his closet.

“Where’d you find a jacket like that?” Bajie asks while they pick up some snacks at a convenience store. “I didn’t think you wore stuff like that.”

“There’s a lot of stuff you don’t know about me.” Longma pops up his collar. The pig snorts.

“Hey!” Wujing calls for their attention. “What kind of drinks do we want for the road?” He holds up two different beverage cans. “Some kind of fizzy energy drink, or apple juice in a can?”

“Definitely the energy drink, or I’m gonna fall asleep before the night ends.” Bajie grabs the bright fluorescent colored can from Wujing’s hand.

Longma takes the other can. “I think I’ll try drinking tonight.”

Wujing gives him a look. “That doesn’t mean what you think it means.”

“I don’t care.” The dragon starts struggling to open the can while the other two talk about the performers that are going to be going to be at the show. Finally, he gets it open, and braces himself to take a sip. There’s a chime as the automatic doors open. Longma looks over at the person entering and spits out his juice.

Ooooooh  _ shit. _ Those eyes. This shiny green that reminds him a bit of plants. That… that  _ hair. _ It was long on the top and shorter around the sides. It was solid  _ blue. _ He watches the human walk over to the coffee station. His can of juice falls out of his hand.

“Uh… Longma?” Wujing says concerned. “You okay?”

“I, uh.” Longma clears his throat. “I didn’t know humans came with blue hair.”

His two companions look over at the blue haired human. “Oh, it’s dyed,” Wujing replies. “They put stuff in their hair that makes it a different color. Takes a while, but turns out cool.”

“Why would they want to do that?”

“Why don’t you go ask?” Bajie says, nudging the dragon. “It’d be better than just staring at them. Great way to build up some social skills.”

Longma takes a deep breath and starts walking to the coffee. As calmly and casually as he can manage, he picks up on of the styrofoam cups. The other cups in the stack start falling over. The dragon loses his cool and fumbles to catch the cups. He fails, and they all fall to the floor. “I, uh.” The blue haired human walks away.

“Well, that went well.” Longma turns to glare at the pig. Back in the car, Bajie continues his teasing. “Didn’t you used to be a prince? I thought you’d have been a bit more  _ graceful _ or something.”

“Put on your seatbelt before I slam the gas and send you through the windshield.”

“Guys, this is supposed to be a fun night.” Wujing twists around in the front passenger seat to look back at Bajie. “Is this gonna be anything like that party you dragged me out to?”

“I’m pretty sure there’s not gonna be as much people there,” the pig explains. “Maybe not as many beers. You’re not going to walk in on people getting it on, if you’re worried about that happening again.”

Wujing sighs in relief and turns to face the front again. “Thank goodness.” He looks over at their driver. “What made you want to come out with us tonight?”

“Didn’t want to just sit around by myself tonight.”

“Wukong’s still at the house with-  _ oooh _ .” The fish faces forward again. “I get what you mean.”

The car is silent except for the sound of rock music on the stereo. Bajie breaks the silence. “How long will it take us to drive there, again?”

“10 or 15 minutes.” Longma’s tone is rigid.

“Are you upset about that back in the store? That person looked like the type to go to the type of show we’re going to. We might run into them again.”

Wujing puts a hand on Longma’s shoulder. “They’re driving next to us!” he says, “To your left!”

Longma only needs to look for a few seconds to see the blue hair flowing in the wind. “What do I  _ do? _ ”

“Give them a look!” Bajie encourages. “But not yet!” Longma tenses. “Riiiiiight… now!”

The dragon looks out of his window. He meets eyes with the human one their motorcycle. They smile at him, and all Longma can do is blush. The human drives off ahead of them, right past a street light that turns red as the car rolls up to it. “ _ Damn,”  _ he curses.

“We’ll see them at the rock show, probably,” Bajie tries to reassure.

“That’s if we’re lucky. I mean, what are the chances that-” Wujing doesn’t get to finish his sentence as Longma slams his foot on the gas. They’re all knocked back against their seats as the car speeds down the road. “What are you  _ doing? _ ”

Bajie laughs. “Holy  _ fuck, _ this is going to get into trouble over this!”

“Do you even have a plan!?!”

“Nope! New Longma. No plans.”

The blue haired cyclist comes into sight. And then, of course, red and blue lights flash in the rear view mirror. “Shit!” Bajie hisses. “It’s the cops!”

“It’s all fine!” Wujing calms, “We just have to pull over, show them your license, and you’ll at most get a ticket.”

Longma doesn’t ease up at all. “ _ Technically _ , I don’t  _ have _ a license.” They speed past the motorcycle then turned sharply around a corner.

“What do you  _ mean _ you don’t have a license!” Wujing practically screams. “How did you get a car?”

“Oh, Wukong would have  _ loved _ to be in this mess!”

“Everyone shut up for a minute!” Longma turns another sharp corner with enough momentum to knock the passengers sideways. He spins the car and they reverse to hide behind a large sign. The car shuts off, and everyone holds their breath as the police car zooms past them.

A sigh of relief fills the car. “Longma.” Bajie leans or foreword and puts a hand on the dragon’s shoulder. “ _ You _ are a total  _ badass. _ ”

“Thanks.” Longma rests his head on the steering wheel and breaths heavy.

Wujing flashes him a concerned look. “You okay?”

“Just-” Longma groans. “I don’t even know  _ what the hell _ I am anymore.”

“Dude.” Bajie unbuckles his seatbelt so he can get more in the front with the other two. “You’re like one of us! You’re like a brother.”

“No. I mean, kinda. Sometimes?” Longma hits his head against the headrest with a sigh. “I looked it up. There’s a word for it. That’s not what tonight is about. I just need to get out of my head.”

“What word?” Wujing asks.

The dragon reaches to start the car again. “Genderfluid.” The engine roars to life. They slowly pull back onto the road.

“I don’t know what that means,” Bajie says, sitting back into the backseat and buckling back up.

“Look it up.”

They get to the rock show well enough. Lo and behold, the blue haired stranger  _ is _ there after all. Longma marches right on over to the and starts a conversation. It goes better than expected. When Wujing finds him to head back home, he’s hastily putting his hair back up and trying to straighten out his clothes.

“Well, you sure look like you enjoyed yourself.”

Longma blushes furiously. “I got their number, so it wasn’t just-”

“ _ Please _ spare the details,” Wujing says, making a sour face. “I’m not into any of that stuff. I’m willing to drive if you’re tired or drunk or the sort.”

The dragon pulls the car keys out of his pocket and hands them over. “Just don’t crash the car.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Advise from Mom

Guanyin was always like a mother to all of them. At some point towards the end of the journey, Wukong started calling her “mom.” She just as quickly started referring to him as her son. She’s always incredibly pleased to be seen as a mother. She quite enjoyed when any of those five came to her for advice.

Each of them has come to Guanyin for at least one piece of advice, but Wukong seems to come most often. Often times, he wants to be sure the rules will bend the way he wants them to. Even after completing the journey west and attaining Buddhahood, the monkey is still mischievous at his very core. Still, it’s better for him to ask and bend the rules rather than full on break them.

She remembers the monkey bringing up living among the humans for a while. “Have you decided on where exactly to live?” she asked.

“Probably somewhere in America,” Wukong answered. “I mean, we’d all stay in China, but the mortals here have been kinda weird about me and Sanzang being…  _ together, _ you know?”

Guanyin nodded in understanding. “I have heard all sorts gods and spirits from around the world are living there.”

“Kinda hope I don’t run into Dionysus, then,” Wukong said with a laugh. “I may have liked the kind of parties he had back in the day, but I am  **not** getting mixed up in that insane stuff now!”

“I’ve heard that his father has him toning down the violence of his parties.”

“That guy would  **_never_ ** tone down the intoxication for  _ anything! _ ”

The fived moved to the American west coast disguised in human forms. They can’t visit her as often as they used to, but that’s not so bad. They send her letters every so often. Today, Wukong comes to her for advice, just as he did so many times during the journey. She knows why he’s here, but he’s insisting that it’s just to visit and have tea.

“So, how have things been living among humans in America?”

“It’s been fun,” the monkey says, taking a sip of tea.

Guanyin takes a sip from her own cup of tea. She asks, “Have you run into many other immortals there?”

“Apparently, Loki lives in the area.” He stares into his tea, stirring it around.

“Wukong,” the goddess of mercy gives him a knowing look. “Why are you really here? What do you need help with?”

“I have…” Wukong stumbles on his words a bit. “There’s something I want to ask Sanzang.”

Guanyin answers frankly, “Then ask him.”

“No, I mean-” The monkey takes a deep breath. “I’ve wanted to ask him for a decade or so now, and it may have been part of the reason I wanted to move somewhere it was actually  _ legal _ , you know and-” He sighs, and his face starts turning red.

Guanyin’s eyes widen ever so slightly as she realizes just what he wants to do. “You’re  _ allowed _ to get married,” she says.

“I know! I was gonna propose a couple months ago when I bought the rings, but…” Wukong looks off to the side and scratches the back of his neck. “On the way back, I realized I had  _ no _ plan. I just want it to be special, but I can’t seem to find the right time or plan. I always get too nervous!”

“Wukong.” Guanyin puts a firm hand on his shoulder. “ _ Ask him. _ If you wait around for too long, you’ll drive yourself insane. Also, I’d like an invitation to the wedding.”

“Well,  _ obviously! _ ” Wukong seems a bit more relaxed. “Wedding planning is gonna take a while, so it’s probably over a year away.”

“I can wait.”

“I… still want it to be romantic though.”

Guanyin thinks for a moment. She takes another sip from her tea. “Plan some nice days,” she begins. “Not  _ perfect _ days, just nice days. Propose on one of those days.”

Wukong considers this. “Do you think that would be enough?”

“I am certain just you asking will be enough for him.”

The monkey thinks for a bit more. He lifts his tea cup to his lips and tilts his head back to finish it quickly. He sets the cup down, and bows to Guanyin. “Thanks for the tea and the advice. I should be heading back now before my younger brothers need to be bailed out of jail again.”

Guanyin cocks an eyebrow up. “You’ll have to tell me that story sometime.”

“I’ll write it to you later.” Wukong hops onto his somersault cloud and waves goodbye to the goddess. “Bye, Mom! And thanks again!”

Guanyin waves goodbye to her son. She feels a small sense of pride within her. Her  _ son. _ Her son is going to get  _ married. _ Buddha would love to hear about this. He claims he isn’t into gossip, and yet he soaks up news and rumors like he very much  _ is. _ Perhaps before it was like his form of watching TV dramas before television was even invented. If Guanyin could get him into those shows, maybe she could get away with not sharing this bit of information.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Date night

Winter holidays were quickly approaching. This meant that everywhere you went, you could find any type of decoration. The coffee shop Sanzang frequented had a fake pine tree in the corner decorated with red ribbons and silver and gold ornaments. Their neighbors set up strings of lights and inflatable characters such as snowmen or Santa Clause. One neighbor has all of their decorations based one a film call “Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Word has it that walking around at night this time of year isn’t dark and dangerous, but bright and beautiful. Longma was taken on a date earlier this week to see some of the lights around town. Tonight, Wukong wants to take Sanzang to see  _ all _ of the the lights in town. “Or  _ not _ all of them,” the monkey suggests at the breakfast table. “We could just walk around the neighborhood, go out to eat somewhere. Like, you know,” Wukong scratches the back of his neck, “a date night.”

“Is this… a nice restaurant we’re going to?” The monk asks. “Or just… a casual type of place?”

“I know a pretty good vegetarian place in town,” Bajie says through a mouthful of food. “Even has some full vegan options. Not too fancy, but isn’t time a fast food place either.”

“You guys don’t even have to head out until close to sunset to see the lights well enough,” Longma complains, “so why are you talking about this at  _ breakfast? _ ”

“To make sure he wants to!” Wukong turns back to the monk. “Do you?”

Sanzang smiles at him. “I would  _ love _ to have this date night with you.”

Wukong smiles back and kisses him on the cheek.

“Stop being cute!” Wujing points an accusatory spoon at the couple. “I don’t want to die from this cuteness before I can get out of my pajamas.”

Sanzang spends the rest of the morning straightening up their bedroom. When he’s done, he sits on the floor and looks up things on his phone. Today, he’s trying to look into specific terms from his ‘pride flags’ search. To be specific, he’s trying to find out how to tell if you are one of these identities. He worries that it’s _ too late to be questioning this stuff now _ .

Wukong enters the bedroom. “Hey, whatcha looking at?”

“Nothing really.” Sanzang puts his phone into sleep mode then puts it in his pocket. “How are the others doing?”

“They’re fine.” Wukong sits down on the floor next to the monk. “You seem to sit on the floor a lot.”

“I had just made the bed.”

The monkey puts a hand on his waist. “It wouldn’t make it too messed up just to sit on it.” The monk hums and leans into his love. Wukong laughs lightly. “Looks like you already got comfortable, though.” He kisses Sanzang on the cheek.

The monk smiles. “What time is it, by the way?” He asks. “When would we be leaving for… ‘date night?’”

“I’m sure we’d get away with leaving in less than an hour,” Wukong answers. “Though I’m still not sure sure if I should change for that food place Bajie recommended.” He pats his thigh, bringing attention to his stained, ripped jeans.

Sanzang nods in understanding. He looks down at his own soft cotton pants. People would think he’s in his pajamas if he went out like this. “Perhaps it would be a good idea to change before leaving.”

“Do you need me to leave the room for you to change? If I’m just changing pants, I could go change in the bathroom.”

Sanzang considers it for a long moment. “I think it would be best.”

“Alright.” Wukong shifts slightly. “We’ve still got some time though. Could we snuggle for a bit? We don’t have to move from here if you don’t want.”

Sanzang kicks his legs out in front of him. He leans completely against Wukong and laces his fingers with those at hs waist. “Not  _ too _ long,” the monk says quietly. “I still have to figure out what I’ll be wearing.”

When they leave the house later, Sanzang is changed into khakis and a warm sweater. He and Wukong are holding tight to each other’s hands. The monkey has an app open on his phone to help them find where they’re going. The sun is already starting to set with beautiful orange, pink, and red hues. Icey cold wind makes the monk glad he’s wearing a good winter coat and a scarf.

“You gonna catch a cold this year?” Wukong asks teasingly. “If you do, I’ll gladly cuddle up to you day and night until you feel better.”

Sanzang’s face flushes, and he smiles. “I sure hope you wouldn’t leave your brothers to doing all of the housework and cooking without you.”

“They all already know I’m best at helping you get better.” He stops walking to turn and give the monk a quick kiss on the jawline. “If you start feeling sick at all tonight, I will gladly carry you back home.”

“I sure hope it won’t be necessary.” Sanzang presses his forehead against Wukong’s. “I admit I’m a bit excited about seeing these lights.”

The monkey wears a wide grin. “You’re being rather bold. Usually, you’re so shy about doing even this out of private.”

“Isn’t it easier to hide like this, though?” Sanzang whispers softly. He switches out of English to continue, “Those that have heard our story wouldn’t expect us to act this way, right?”

“That’s clever,” Wukong responds. After a few more seconds, he pulls away. “We should keep going to that restaurant. I wanna see if the food’s as good as Bajie says it is.”

The restaurant is a smallish place. It’s not very crowded, so they manage to seat themselves quickly. Sanzang investigates the menu. There’s pasta, imitation meat, salads. There are a few different options that come served over rice. Those may actually be closer to anything he was used to. Some of the options on here are things the monk has never heard of.

“What’s a… hot dog?”

“Some kind of sausage, I think? I’ve heard it’s popular here in the summer.” Wukong looks up from his menu. “You don’t have to try anything new if you don’t want to.”

“I won’t.”

When their food is finished, the sun has completely set, and the streets are illuminated by street lamps and strings of lights. Wukong holds his hand, firm and gentle. “The streets are pretty crowded,” he notes. “Let’s head to the park. I think it’s less crowded there. Also a lot more lights.”

Sanzang is captivated by the shimmering lights all around. “Who came up with things like this? Covering homes and trees in all of these bright lights?”

“I don’t know.” Wukong pulls him close, and swaps from holding the monk’s hand to wrapping an arm around his waist. “Maybe we could hang some up outside the house? Put a few lights up around the front door.”

“As long as it’s nothing as elaborate as some of the neighbors. Or the lights here.” Indeed. The park how many elaborate displays. Going down the walkway, there seemed to be a sort of narrative going on. A Toyland, a Victorian Village, a North Pole. A small bridge had been made into a tunnel of lights.

“There’s also inside decorations.” Wukong fished around in his pockets. He pulls at a small fake plant on a string, with white berries and green leaves. “Like this little thing. It also has a tradition to it.”

Sanzang tilts his head. “What kind of tradition?”

The two stand face to face in this tunnel of lights. Wukong holds the fake plant above the monk’s with a grin. “When two people are caught under it, they have to kiss.”

Sanzang feels his face flush. “That’s… that’s a sweet tradition.” He puts his hands on Wukong’s shoulders. “Shall we indulge ourselves in such a thing?”

Wukong has one arm wrapped around the monk’s waist to pull him closer. “Gladly.” The two kiss, sweet and tender, in the middle of this tunnel of lights. Such a sight was probably rather scenic, like a picture of the moment would be found among artistic photos on that ‘Instagram’ thing. The kiss doesn’t last too long, as they need to get out of the way of other visitors come to see the lights. They part and continue on the path to view more of the lights.

“What did you have in mind after the lights here?”

Wukong puts a hand to his chin and hums. “There’s this big tree in the town square. Though it might be kinda a crowded…” The monkey snaps his fingers. “I’ve got an idea. You wouldn’t mind if used the cloud for a bit, would you? I can make it where we won’t be seen.”

Sanzang considers it for a moment. “As long as no one sees, it should be fine.”

Gleefully, Wukong leads him to a spot hidden behind a few trees, then takes them flying into the night air. Sanzang clings tight to the monkey, balling his fists around the back of his coat. After all of these years, he’s still not used to the speed at which his partner moved through the air. Although, Wukong seems not to mind the way the monk clings to him.

Wukong finds a medium sized building and touches down on top of it. The two sit on the ledge and look down at the town square. There is a large pine tree that may or may not be real, it’s completely covered in large ornaments and bright twinkling lights. A large, shining star rests a top. From this height, they can see the people and cars bustling all around.

“It’s a beautiful sight,” Sanzang notes.

“Yeah.” Wukong takes a deep breath. “I have something to ask you.”

Sanzang turns to face the monkey. He’s rummaging through his pocket for something. “Will you…” Wukong pulls out the small fake plant from before and holds it above his own head. “Give me another kiss? Please?”

Sanzang struggles to hold back a laugh.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coming out

When Longma had told Bajie and Wujing about about the Genderfluid stuff that night in the car, he… or  _ they? _ It feels foreign to think of ‘they’ referring to the dragon after so long hearing ‘he.’ But it’s also somehow…  _ right. _ Or at least it does right now. Wait, they’re getting off track. Point is, they expected the two brothers to mostly forget he even brought up the word.

Wujing brought it up again when they were in the car. Bajie was passed out in the back, and Longma was about fall asleep himself, themself,  _ FUCK IT,  _ the dragon was more of a ‘he’ that night. “Hey, Longma,” the fish’s voice pulled him away from the edge of slumber. “Before you completely pass out, you mentioned ‘genderfluid’ earlier?”

“I’m not explaining it.” Longma rested his head against the cool glass of the window. “I’m not explaining  _ myself _ either.”

“I already know what it means. I’ve looked this kind of stuff up before. I kinda thought you might be, but I know it’s better to let you figure  _ yourself  _ out.”

Longma perked his head up at that. “What let you know?” he asked. “How could you tell?”

Wujing shrugged. “My guess was either that or non-binary. You’ve just always seemed pretty neutral to me.”

Longma considered for a moment, then his eyes widened as a thought came to mind. “Does that mean… you’re?”

“No, no.” Wujing waved one hand. “I’m just plain old asexual. When I was looking that stuff up, I noticed some other words that I thought fit one of the others.” He put both hands back on the wheel. “I kinda fell down the rabbit hole looking up terms it looked like fit everyone.”

Longma scratched his chin for a bit. “What are the others then?”

“Well…” They were interrupted by sirens accompanied by red and blue flashing lights. “Aw, shit.”

The three were stuck in a cell for at least an hour while they waited for Wukong to come and bail them out. On the way home, he scolded, “We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile here. You guys should know not to get caught!”

In the morning, Bajie surprisingly remembered a lot from the night before. He approached Longma later in the afternoon. “Hey Longma. I was looking up that thing you said last night, and I was wondering-”

“I am  _ not _ answering any uncomfortable, obscene questions you may have.”

“No!” The pig waved his hands defensively. “I just wanna know how you’re feeling today! I don’t wanna mess up on calling you anything.”

“Oh.” Longma thought hard for a minute. “I think I’m…  _ they? _ Yeah, that feels right at the moment.”

“Okay.” Bajie pat them on the back. “Then at the moment, you’re our  _ sibling _ .”

Longma nodded. The pig left it at that and went on with his day. So, half of their housemates knew they were genderfluid. They should tell the other two when they have the chance. Maybe they should come out to the other two. If they would just stop putting it off. Already, this “Christmas” thing that humans here were so obsessed was a few days away. They’ve been trying to tell them both at the same time, but that hasn’t been working out. And so, with the three disciples out running errands, Longma decides it’s as good a time as any to tell they monk.

The dragon and Sanzang are both sitting on opposite sides of the couch. “It’s good how humans have words for some things now,” Longma says aloud. “Like, I didn’t know how describe something before, or thought it was just normal for everyone, and it turns out it’s actually  _ not. _ ”

Sanzang tenses up. Oh, so far, not so good. “Y… yeah. I can… relate to that.” The monk stutters.

“And there’s just… that  _ one word, _ ” Longma continues, “that one word that just  _ fits _ , but your worried about what other people would think about it.”

Sanzang brings his feet up onto the couch and hugs his knees. “And they’ve known you as one thing for so long…”

Oh… maybe Sanzang would understand more than they thought. The monk also seems to be getting himself, or just maybe  _ them _ self, in a not so good headspace. “Did you ever come across the term ‘genderfluid?’”

Sanzang lefts his/their heads up from that kinda moping thing he/they were doing. “Oh, um… no, not really.”

“It’s like, man, woman, both, neither, I keep flowing between all of that.” Longma scratches the back of their neck. “I kinda already told Wujing and Bajie a while ago.”

“It’s… it’s okay?” Sanzang asks with a crack in his/their voice. “It’s not frightening?”

“I mean, I guess it’s kinda scary, but it’s still…” Longma realizes that the monk is trembling just a bit. “Uum… are you okay?”

“I’m… I just…” The monk starts crying. Oh, Longma does  _ not _ know how to deal with this. “I’m not… you’re fine! It’s not…”

Clearly, Sanzang is having some sort of identity crisis, and the dragon has no idea how to help. Longma pulls out their cellphone. “Okay, you’re freaking out. I’m texting Wukong.”

“No, I… I’m going to the bedroom.” The monk scrambles off the couch and up the stairs. Well this whole thing didn’t go as well as Longma had hoped, but it didn’t go bad in the way they expected, either.

**Me:** hey, you need to come home

**Wukong:** Why? What happened?

**Me:** Sanzang’s freaking out


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coming out, too. Also...

Sanzang tries desperately to wipe away tears. They didn’t mean to start crying like that. They  _ know _ what they are. The monk knows they’re non-binary. They were ready to never actually tell anyone. After all, everyone’s used to calling them  _ he _ and referring to them as a man over the past centuries. It would have been easier just keeping things the same. Not having everyone go through an adjustment period just for them.

But, as it turns out, Longma had their own discovery of identity. The dragon already told Bajie Wujing about it, too. It didn’t sound like the two had problems with it. As Sanzang thinks back, they can recall the two referring to Longma as “they.” So, it’s fine then? Could the monk tell them as well?

But what would Wukong think of all of this? Would it matter to him? What if the monkey was bothered by it? What if he decided he didn’t to be with Sanzang any more because of it? Oh, none of this thinking was helping them stop crying. They curl up in a tight ball on the floor. This is just a disaster.

The bedroom door slams open. An incredibly concerned Wukong stands in the doorframe. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I…” Sanzang fruitlessly rubs at their eyes. Wukong quickly gets down on the floor beside them and wraps the monk up in a tight embrace. Sanzang presses their face against the monkey’s arm, so that their tears were soaked onto his sleeve.

“Longma said you talked about something,” Wukong breaths, “You don’t have to say what. You don’t have to talk  _ at all _ , really, but I know you think it helps to talk about things.” He kisses the top of the monk’s head.

Sanzang finds themself telling him  _ everything. _ When the started looking up all these terms,when some of them started to feel fitting, when they realized that  _ they _ actually fit better than  _ he _ . The monk just starts getting into the plan to just not tell anyone, when Wukong interrupts with a tighter hold on them. “No.”

“Everyone’s already so used to-”

“No! You can’t just let everyone call you something if it’s the wrong thing!” Wukong picks Sanzang up and sets them down one the edge of the bed. The monkey stands in front of them. “Everyone can adjust. Frankly, I feel insulted that you wouldn’t tell me.”

“I’m sorry. I thought…” the monk trails off.

“The last thing I would ever want is for you to live such a lie for me. I love  _ you _ . Nothing is going to change that. And I…” Wukong stops. He wipes away some of the tears on the monk’s face and kisses their forehead. Gently, he takes hold of Sanzang’s hands. “I have something a want to ask you. I probably would have waited longer to ask. I  _ should _ have asked a long time ago, honestly.”

Sanzang looks at him in mild confusion as the monkey gets down on his knees in front of them. Wukong releases one of their hands to reach for something in his pocket. His face looks flushed as he begins, “You make me happy, and I want to make you happy. I just love you so,  _ so  _ much, I never want to leave you. I know we’ve been together for almost 1400 years now. It’s probably just a formality at this point. But still.”

Sanzang feels their heart pound in their chest. Is this want they think it is? Is he asking what they think he is? It’s not just wishful thinking on their part is it? “Wukong…”

Wukong pulls at a simple little black velvet box. He takes a deep breathe. “Sanzang…” With one hand, the monkey opens the box to reveal the sparkling ring inside. “Will you marry me?”

All Sanzang can say for a moment is “Oh my gosh…” They put a hand to their mouth. The monk can feel their face growing warm and tears yet again coming out of their eyes. A smile starts to form on their face. “Marry?”

“Yeah! This way, we can always be together in some sense.” Wukong starts getting up from his knees. “You’re crying again. You’re overwhelmed, aren’t you?” Before he can stand up completely, Sanzang wraps their arms around the monkey and kisses his lips. Wukong is only momentarily taken aback before he leans forward and gently pushes the monk to the bed. The two lie in the bed with their feet awkwardly hanging off the side.

When they pull away, Wukong has a huge smile on his face. “That’s a yes, I take it?”

“Yes! Of course!” Sanzang laughs breathlessly. “It would make so incredibly  _ happy! _ ”

“You look like it.” Wukong cups their face with a hand and brushes the monk’s cheek with his thumb. “You look tired, too.”

Sanzang just hums. It’s true. They  _ are _ tired. “We should move, shouldn’t we? So we aren’t kinda falling off the bed.”

“Yeah, you have a good point.” The newly engaged couple pushes themselves up to sit on the bed rather than lie on it. Wukong holds up the ring box to the monk. “Do wanna put it on now?”

They nod. Wukong holds their hand while he slips the ring on one of their fingers. “Is it fitting right?” Sanzang asks. “I’ve never worn rings before.”

“It looks about right.” The monkey kisses their hand. “You  _ do _ look pretty tired, though. Do you wanna sleep for a bit?”

“Will you stay with me?”

Wukong kisses their brow. “Of course I will. I’ll still be here when you wake up.”

The pair find their way under the covers. The monkey has an arm cradling Sanzang’s head. The other arm is at their waist, where their fingers are laced together. Wukong kisses the monk’s temple. Sanzang feels so warm and fuzzy inside. They’re just so overwhelmingly  _ happy. _


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knew it would happen eventually

It was only a matter of time before they got married. Bajie could tell. For a bit, he wondered if a monk like Sanzang would even be  _ allowed _ to marry. That question got tossed out the window the second time he walked in on the two making out. And yes, the pig counted their first kiss. The “it’s not what it looks like” excuse wouldn’t work this time.

Sanzang and Wukong had it bad for each other. Marriage was inevitable. The only question now was  _ when. _ Bajie theorized a lot with Wujing. “They’d probably get married before we finish the journey, right?” Bajie suggested. “Experience the joys of marriage before that whole enlightenment stuff that’s supposed to happen at the end of this.”

The fish shook his head. “Eldest Brother wouldn’t start something like that if he expected to have to stop,” he argued. “Besides, Master wouldn’t want to rush it all.”

“Then maybe they’ll get married before the journey’s end and we all just keep it secret,” The pig huffed. “They could sneak off to be alone together when the need it.”

Wujing scratched his chin in thought. “Maybe. Wukong is good enough at sneaking off without being seen.”

The journey continued. The journey ended. And still, no sort of wedding between the monkey and the monk. “Do you think they could have had a wedding without us knowing?” Bajie questioned a few decades later to Wujing and Longma.

Wujing thought over it. “I think they’d have at least  _ someone _ witness it.”

Longma made a sour face. “Those two aren’t bold enough for such a thing! Secret weddings?” the dragon scoffed. “With how romantic they love being, they’d never keep from calling each other ‘husband’ or the like.”

Still, Bajie didn’t quite give up on the theory that the two would end up married at  _ some point _ . He  _ did _ doubt for a bid, though. The mortal world was starting to get this negative view on two men being together like that. It was actually terrifying watching humans make their laws against it. Thankfully, Sanzang and Wukong didn’t spend as much time among them as Bajie did. He didn’t even think either of them kept close track of mortal society. This is until that one summer.

“Hey, did you hear about what happened in America?” 

Bajie looked at the monkey with confusion. “Since when were you keeping track of what happens in America?”

“Since it first got in news that their government was gonna have to make a final decision on this,” Wukong explained. He pointed to the screen of a smartphone Bajie didn’t know he had. “People can legally marry someone of the same sex nation wide there.”

Bajie read what he could of the article on the phone before Wukong pulled it away. “That’s good for them.”

“I know some other gods in other parts of the world are moving there for a bit,” Wukong shared, “and I was thinking it might be a good place to live, if only for a year or two.”

Bajie stared at his older brother for a moment. “Oh. My. Gosh,” he started, flabbergasted, “You’re planning on getting married to Sanzang, aren’t you?”

The monkey’s face flushed. He hurily shushed the pig. “Not right away! Just… eventually.” Wukong scratched the back of his head. “Like, it’s not like we’d go over there and right away have a wedding. And we aren’t just going there right away, either. I also thought that living among humans might be interesting.”

“I never would have expected you to not go off and do something the moment you thought of something,” Bajie noted. Indeed, he remembered the monkey for being impulsive. Even if he had a plan for something, he didn’t usually like for them to take too long.

“I figured I could convince the whole gang to come with if I waited a few years to actually move.” Wukong tapped his foot. “You’d wanna go, right.”

“Well, yeah,” the pig answered. “It sounds like it could be fun.”

Wukong only took a year or two to convince the Wujing and Longma to move with the whole gang to America. It took a bit more time to get everything ready and organized to presume the identity of a normal bunch of humans moving to a new place. Speaking of a new place, “I’m telling you, none of these apartments would fit all of us!” Longma fumed. “And knowing this group, we’d get evicted for all the noise complaints we’ll no doubt get!”

“There aren’t a lot of suburbs in this area,” Wujing explained. “It’s still gonna be pretty packed together in most places.”

“Even  _ that _ would be better! At the very least, I could have my own room without have to hear every noise outside!”

Bajie groaned. “I want my own room, too. But how many listings are we gonna find with that much room for all of us?”

“I am  _ not _ living in  **_anything_ ** that reminds me of the stables!”

“What about this one!” Wukong pointed at a listing. “There’s a more than enough bedrooms for everyone to have their pick. What we don’t use, we can put other stuff in.”

Sanzang leaned over to read the listing. “How much is it exactly?” Wait, shouldn’t Bajie use  _ they _ for the monk? Even though no one knew about that stuff during the time? It would be fair.

Wukong hid the price on the listing with his hand. “We have enough. You don’t have to worry!”

Sanzang gave him a stern look. “None of us have jobs! Is someone really going to sell us something expensive?”

“If we pay enough to start, they will! I’ve been saving up for years!” He explained, “I still had treasures from the old days.”

“We can get jobs later,” Wujing suggested. The couple dropped the subject for the time being. Although, Bajie didn’t exactly like the prospect of having to get a job.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day in the Life of a Pig

Bajie isn’t that big a fan of this job he has. He works in the kitchen of this diner in town. He gets so hot a sweaty back there. He “sweats like a pig,” as one of the other cooks would say. The saying may actually be fitting, since he  _ is _ a pig. Of course, none of his coworkers knew that. At least it’s just a part-time job, and it gives Bajie something to do.

He wipes sweat off his brow with his arm. “Hey, Bajie!” One of his coworkers calls. It’s Ram, a college student somewhere in his 20s. “I’m taking a smoke break! You want in?”

“Yeah! Give me a sec.” Bajie finishes up the order he was working on then heads out with Ram out the back. The initial rush of cold is actually relieving after being stuck in the kitchen.

“Cold feels now, doesn’t it?” Ram says, wiping the last of the sweat off his dark face. The age Bajie passed himself off as is about five or six years ahead of the guy. Still, they get along well enough. Ram let’s him in on parties that he’s heard of going on, and the two share smokes during breaks. “There’s a bunch of New Year’s parties going on soon.” Ram hands Bajie a lighter and a cigarette.

The pig brings it to his mouth. “The one that starts January, right?”

“C’mon man! These parties get crazy!” Ram takes a drag from his own lit cigarette. “Lots of drinks, people doing everything they plan on giving up the next year, and there’s that tradition of kissing someone the moment midnight hits.”

Bajie thinks while inhaling the burning tobacco smoke. “Two of my housemates would  _ love _ that tradition. They’re engaged now, actually.”

“Congratulations to them.” Ram shuffles around in his pocket and pulls out a slip of paper. “There’s a few parties that seem particularly good. I wrote the deats down for you.”

“Thanks.” Bajie takes the paper and shoves it in his pocket. “Maybe I can convince Longma and Wujing to come with. Let the happy couple have the house alone for a while.”

Ram laughs. “It’d give them the chance to get into some kinky shit if they wanted! Sorry, that was the first thing that came to mind.”

“You’re fine.” Bajie playfully shoves his shoulder. He takes another drag from his cigarette. “We probably only have a few more minutes before we have to go back in.”

“Got it. Less talking, more smoking.”

After his shift, Bajie looks over the paper on the walk home. As usual with party lists from Ram, there are listed for each the address, host, and just what things could be found there. One thing that stood out to him at first was this big one at the mansion. A lot of rooms and space outside. Drinks and smokes everywhere. The host was some guy named… Dino?

Oh,  _ oh gods. _ That’s _ Dionysus, _ isn’t it? Greek god of partying, getting drunk and high, that terrifying cult stuff some thousand years ago. Bajie had heard that his parties could get  _ intense.  _ Rumor has it no one leaves sober. Sure, he’d always wanted to go to one of those infamous parties himself, but there isn’t much chance that any of the others would want to go.

The pig pulls out his phone and dials Wujing’s number. Might as well ask him about it now. “What’s up?” the fish answers. “You find out about a party tonight or something?”

“More like a much of parties, but not tonight. Just New Year’s parties at the end of the month.”

“I’m guessing there’s really one you want to go to, but you’re skeptical I’d want to go.”

“Alright, you got me,” Bajie sighs. “If the host’s who I think it is, it’s gonna be  _ wild. _ ”

“This place better have a more quiet spot,” Wujing asserts, “Otherwise, you can forget about me coming with.”

“It’s a big house, I’m sure you’ll find more than one  _ somewhere. _ ” Bajie stops and a traffic light and presses the button for the crosswalk. “You know if Longma has plans for that night?”

“I think they’ve got a small get together somewhere that night. I’m at the store, so I can’t ask them right now.”

The pedestrian sign turns green, and Bajie begins crossing the street. “We can ask him later. The lovebirds still doing wedding planning?”

“They’re being more adorably lovey-dovey than usual. That’s why I’m out of the house now.”

Bajie laughs. “Well, thanks for warning me before I got back. I’ll go ahead and hang up so you can finish shopping.”

“Yeah, just remember you’re supposed to help with dinner tonight.”

“I know. I’ll see ya later.” Bajie hangs up the phone and puts it back in his pocket. The house is just a few more blocks away. It looks like their neighbor is finally taking down those Nightmare Before Christmas decorations. Good thing, too. Some local teens have been trying to steal some of those decorations.

After briefly fumbling with his keys, Bajie gets the front door open. “I’m home! Get yourself decent or out of the open!”

“Stop saying that everytime you come home!” Longma calls from somewhere else in the house.

The pig laughs as he closes the door behind him. He takes his coat and shoes off by the front door. He can’t wait to bathe. Before he heads upstairs to take a shower, Bajie peeks into the living room. Sanzang and Wukong are asleep in the couch, surprising with how the pig yelled when he entered the house. The monkey is on top of the monk with his tucked under their chin. On the coffee table are several different magazines with cakes and flowers and wedding fashions.

It’s a pretty sweet sight. Admitibly, it makes Bajie smile. The actual wedding probably won’t be for a while, but he has a feeling that it will be a similarly sweet sight. Maybe even sweeter. But no use thinking about that now. He needs to shower.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Childhood memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's thing cartoon about Wukong's childhood that has him being friends with a lot of characters he fought in the book. I can go so wild with the angst in that.

A fact that few know is Longma and Wukong knew each other as children. There were actually quite a few in their little friend group the many today wouldn’t really expect. Mostly because Wukong fought each of them over the course of the Journey. Except for that sentient piece of fruit. Instead, it was an incident the same type of fruit with the same properties but not so sentient.

Longma had been a late comer to the friend group. Ginseng Fruit and Jade Rabbit had already been there for a while, Ginseng being the former newest member. The dragon at first thought that Wukong and Six-Eared Monkey were twins. At the very least, they  _ had _ to be brothers. The way the two monkeys acted to each other was the way you treat someone you’ve known and been friends with and lived with for pretty much your whole life.

It wasn’t until he asked about parents that he found out the pair weren’t related by blood. Wukong was born from a rock, so he  _ had _ no parents. Six-Eared was an orphan, abandoned by parents who were likely long dead. The White Dragon felt the need to apologize. He’d often complained about his own parents, and not once suspected the two never had ones of their own. Wukong brushed it off. “Just because I don’t have any, doesn’t mean I expected them all to be good.”

“And I  _ had _ parents!” Six-Eared explained, gesturing to himself. “They just decided to leave me on a mountain rather than take care of me.”

The two monkeys called each other “brother” much more often after that. Apparently, it hadn’t occurred to them before to call themselves that. Truly though, they were brothers in every except by blood. The dragon enjoyed spending time with the two. Actually, he enjoyed spending time with Six-Eared most of all. He was the more quiet and reserved of the monkey brothers. He was always listening.

Six-Eared was  _ incredibly _ good at impressions. His ears let him hear thing near and far, past and future. “If I could just figure and transformations,” he’d say, “I could swap places with someone and no one would be able to tell the difference!”

So, Longma  _ might _ have had a childhood crush on the monkey. Okay, he  _ definitely _ had a crush on Six-Eared. How did that happen? He wasn’t sure exactly how, but it did. There wasn’t much he could do about it, however. The young dragon’s parents stopped letting get away with visiting them sometime in his teens. This was the point where their friend group started to drift apart.

From what he’d heard, Ginseng Fruit was dead. The details were incredibly vague about it. After Wukong was pinned under that mountain, Jade Rabbit went back to the moon seemingly for good, and the Six-Eared Monkey just vanished. It made Longma’s heart ache. It wasn’t quite likely that he was dead. Wukong had crossed both their names out of the Book of Life and Death. Still, he missed at the least his old friend.

When they started running into their old friends during the Journey, they didn’t recognize the dragon in his horse disguise. But the sight of Wukong seemed to enrage them enough not to think long on it. He wondered  _ just what happened that they hate him so much? _ Longma never really asked. That is until Six-Eared showed up.

Either Six-Eared was trying to ruin Wukong’s reputation or just completely replace him. Either way, the two were  _ impossible _ to tell apart. Longma only knew Six-Eared was one of them because  _ who else would ever be a match for Wukong? _ Who else could copy someone so perfectly? The most concerning thing was how the two fought full intention to kill. What happened to these brothers?

Eventually, Buddha himself appeared to point the difference between the two monkeys. Wukong swiftly killed him before he could escape. After, Longma made sure to get to Wukong alone and ask, “What  _ was _ that?”

Wukong scoffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The was the  _ Six-Eared Monkey? _ Same Six-Eared Monkey who was your _ brother? _ ”

Wukong scratched under his nose. “I don’t know. Last time we talked, he said, ‘You’re no brother of mine.’ But I  _ was _ kinda a dick at the time.”

“And you’re fine?” Longma asked. “He’s  _ dead. _ And  _ you’re _ the one that killed him.”

“I tried sending him a peach of immortality once, before I ate all of them,” the monkey explained. “I don’t know if he ever ate it, or if he even  _ got _ it. I heard he didn’t eat much while I was gone. Either way, I won’t let it all bother me for long.”

“Huh.” Longma took a moment to soak in all of the information. “I had a bit of a crush on him when we were kids.”

“Oh. That’s… that’s rough buddy.”

“Yeah.” He made things awkward, didn’t he?

When they reached India, Jade Rabbit had shown up to cause trouble. She was absolutely  _ pissed _ at Wukong. The rabbit even admitted that she caused all the trouble  _ just _ to get back at Wukong. Longma did find himself asking, “What for? What did he do?”

Jade blinked. “You’re an odd horse, aren’t you? Talking like that.”

“Wasn’t always a horse.”

“Well, whatever you are, he betrayed us and all of our friends some centuries ago,” she explained. “We were all good friends as children, but he got all selfish and full of himself. He left and ignored everyone for  _ over a century! _ And don’t get me started on what happened with his brother!”

“I saw.”

“No, I’m talking about this fight they had right after he came back from causing all that havoc in heaven.” She sighed. “It looked like they were about to kill each other. They used to be so close…”

“I know the feeling.”

Jade Rabbit gave him a sceptical look. “I don’t exactly know who or what you are,” she said thoughtfully, “but something about you just seems  _ familiar. _ ”

If Longma was able to, he would have shrugged. “I just have one of those personalities.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New Years

It’s December 31st, New Year’s Eve. Of  _ course _ the shopping center would be crowded. So many people want to get their last minute party supplies. Longma is hardly a fan of crowds, but she, though might be getting closer to a they,  just wants to grab a few things before spending the night with her datemate and their own girlfriend. Polyamory isn’t exactly a new concept to Longma. She doesn’t mind sharing.

Okay, this may just be  _ too _ crowded for the dragon. For the tenth time, someone bumps into her. She’s also wearing a skirt out for the first time, it may just be a tad too short for winter, and Longma is feeling  _ very _ self-conscious about it. That’s it, she’s gotta find someplace open at least, if not quiet. It takes some pushing and shoving, weaving between passerbys, but she manages to get to a small empty spot by one of the entrances. Longma takes a moment to catch her breath.

Forget the sparkling cider and champagne! She does  _ not _ want to go back in that. Not… oh, there’s another person there. Clearly, they’re having as rough a time as her with the crowd. They seem to be on the verge of a full on panic attack and close to coughing up a lung. The stranger is squatting on the ground, pressing their hands to their ears, coughing into their knees. If they keep this up, concerned humans may start to invade this empty space to “help.”

No no, can’t have that. If they’re bothered by the noise, Longma has some earmuffs that might help just a bit, right. She carefully approaches the stranger. “Hey, um-”

Startled, the stranger jumps back up one their feet. They drop their hands from their- wait. One… two… three… How in the  _ shit? _ In a panic, Longma lunges to put her earmuffs over his  _ six ears _ . “That should help with the noise, right?” she stutters in English, then swaps to Cantonese to whisper, “Please tell me I’m not going crazy, because I  _ swear _ I saw six ears there!”

The presumably Six-Eared Monkey in disguise mutters to himself in a mix of English and Cantonese that Longma can’t quite figure out. Then, he says softly, “Yeah, It’s me. Sorry.”

Longma stares at him for a moment.  _ Sorry? _ He shouldn’t be- Okay, it actually is a bit understandable. “Did you drive here?” she asks.

“It’s hard to hear in here,” Six-Eared starts. “No, there’s  _ too much _ to hear.” He coughs again.

Alright, so verbal communication is useless in here. Longma carefully puts her hands on his shoulders and guides him outside. He doesn’t try to fight her, but he’s also a lot more tense. That won’t do. Once they’re outside in the snow, it becomes clear that Six-Eared isn’t in nearly warm enough clothes for this weather. The guy looks  _ a mess! _

“What  _ happened _ to you?” The dragon asks, guiding him to sit down on a nearby branch. “What were  _ you _ doing in such a loud crowded place?”

“Warmer stuff,” Six-Eared explains with a hoarse voice.” But, I think you’re already guessing at that? Uh, Longma?”

She nods as she sits down next to him. He still remembers her name. That’s good at least. “I truly hope this isn’t what it looks like,” she starts, “because it looks like you’re homeless, maybe close to catching pneumonia, and haven’t even once thought to find any of our childhood friends.”

“Jade thinks I’m still dead!” he complains. “She’d  _ kill me _ if she knew I’d been hiding out everywhere still alive! And Wukong…” Six-Eared trails off. Right, not a good idea to go asking for help from the guy that kinda killed you.

“Well, I’m not heading back to the house tonight. Maybe you could hang out with me for a bit?” Longma suggests. “I just have to let the people I’m staying with tonight know you’re coming.”

Six-Eared blinks slowly. “I’d… wait I need a name, don’t I? They’re gonna wanna know it when I introduce myself, right?”

“Well, you’ve still got ‘Sun’ as a surname, right? That’s a start.”

Six-Eared tenses up. “I… do I even  _ deserve _ it anymore?”

“That’s a question for Wukong I guess. But these people will be fine with just a given name.” Longma pulls out her phone to start texting. “We can think more about it on the way. I might also need to explain a few things about exactly who they are.”

“I, uh…” he coughs and clears his throat. “okay.”

**Me:** I ran into this old childhood friend. I can’t leave him alone, so he’s coming with me.

**SeaBabe:** That’s fine! Is he going to be okay?

**Me:** He’ll be better after the drive. Might need a shower, too.

Longma stands up and straightens out her skirt again. “Let’s get to my car. It’s a bit of a drive.”

It takes Six a minute to stand up himself. “I’ve never been in a car,” he says. “Unless a bus counts, but I don’t think it does?”

“Might count just a bit.” Longma holds onto Six’s arm as she guides him to the car. She opens the front passenger door for him. “Remember to put on your seat belt.”

The drive starts out mostly quiet. Six is said to be capable of hearing the past and future. Actually, hearing the future and past seems to be more of an accidental or just overheard thing, but he  _ can _ get a better idea of the past if he focuses. So, the monkey slips back into his fuzzy form while he gave his best educated guesses on what’s happened with the group. “You’re… dating someone.”

Longma nods. “Their name is Kai. They dye their hair this real nice blue.”

“And… they’re also dating a girl?”

“Juniper.  _ I’m _ not dating her, though.”

“And you’re…” Six stops, as if he’s trying to listen to the dragon’s very thoughts. “They?”

“Sometimes.” Longma takes a hand off the wheel to tug a bit at her skirt. “Right now, I’m more of a she. I’ll let you know if it changes.”

Six doesn’t respond. Longma looks over at the passenger seat. The monkey has pulled his feet up on the seat. He hugs his knees and leans against the window. Loudly, his stomach growls. “When was the last time you ate something?” Longma asks concerned.

Six blushes and pulls his hood over his head and the fluffy pink earmuffs. “I at least had half a candy bar this morning. I know, it’s not enough.”

“Yeah, we’re stopping for fast food on the way.”

They arrive at the apartment complex halfway through the 30 piece chicken nuggets and fries they got from a drive through. Six sips slowly on sweet tea while gazing wide eyed at the large buildings. Longma pulls at her phone to text Kai. “We can’t really get into the building without someone buzzing us in,” she explains, “so Kai or Juniper will come down for use, and we can stay in the car where it’s warm, okay?”

Six only nods slightly. After a minute, realization dawns on him. “Oh, I can’t be all fuzzy, can I?” The monkey closes his eyes to focus. His face closes in concentration, and slowly, his form shifts to a more human appearance. “I  _ think _ I’ve come up with a name? But I don’t know if it’s all that good.”

“You can always ask them to call you something different if you don’t like it.”

Kai comes down to let them in. They even carry up Longma’s overnight bag for her. At the apartment door, Kai turns to Six and asks, “What’s your name., by the way?”

“ _ LIUER, _ ” the monkey says rapidly. Longma’s actually surprised that she made out any of it.

Kai cocks an eyebrow. “Liu… what?”

“We called him ‘Six’ as kids,” Longma steps in. “Like, a childhood nickname.”

“That’s fine! We could call you either one!” Kai unlocks the door for them all. Six does a bit better introducing himself to Juniper. The name ‘Liuer’ is more comprehensible. Longma takes to still calling him “Six,” which the monkey doesn’t mind at all. Juniper offers Six something to drink. Sprite, water, some beer, “but not the wine. We’ll have to save that until midnight.”

While Six tries to pick a drink to at least try, Kai pulls Longma aside to another room. “Hey I want to quick ask something about Six,” they start, “Is he… autistic? I don’t mean that as a rude thing! My nephew is on the spectrum, and I think the two might act a bit similar?”

Longma thinks over the thought in her mind. “I don’t know,” she answers. “He’s never been to a psychiatrist or therapist who would know.”

“Then it  _ might _ be a good thing for him to see one.”

As midnight approaches, the four of them sit on the couch watching some New Year’s special with wine glasses in hand. Six has a can of beer in his other hand. It wasn’t his first one tonight, so he’s probably gonna be just a bit hungover in the morning. When midnight hits and cheers erupt from the tv, they all clink their glasses together and down them quickly.

“Remember your promise to bring us along for your Chinese New Year stuff!” Juniper says.

“I know, I know.”

Six passes out on the couch. Juniper gets a good blanket to drape over him. “Where’s he gonna go in the morning?” Juniper asks. “We sadly can’t keep him here for long. And he might have more serious than just a cough?”

“I’ll take him back home with me,” Longma replies. “His brother is gonna want to see him after all these years.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hungover and anxious

The Six-Eared Monkey wakes up feeling groggy and nauseous. Wait, he has a name now. Liuer, but sometimes people call him Six. Somehow, he’s still in a human form. No,  _ his _ human form. This is him and nobody else.  _ Liuer Liuer Liuer. _ So many years pretending to be anyone but himself made him forget that he actually was his own person. Liuer had just started reminding himself that a few months ago.

Oh Heavens, either he needs to empty his stomach or put something in it. His shoulder is gently shaken by his old dragon friend. “Breakfast is your choice of cereal or salad. But we should get some food in you before we go driving off.”

Liuer rubs at his eyes and moans a bit. He strains his ears to get an idea of what happened while he was asleep. Seems Longma had some  _ fun _ last night. Earlier they called… Liuer jumps up right. “You can’t take me to him!” he squeaks. “He’ll  _ kill me! _ ”

“Wukong won’t kill you. His fiancé wouldn’t let him anyway.” Longma rightens the earmuffs over his ears. “They don’t even know it’s you specifically. All they’re expecting is a hungover spirit going through a bad time. So, cereal or salad?”

Liuer blinks. He’s hyperventilating, and he needs to stop. If he doesn’t stop, he’s going to puke, and if he pukes, it’s gonna be a mess left for someone else to clean up. “Salad,” he breathes. Salad is plant stuff like lettuce, tomatoes, carrots. All good things he honestly hasn’t eaten in a while. The monkey eats his salad on the couch.

“Do you need painkillers or something?” asks the female human, JUNIPER. Her name in Juniper. She picks up a half empty beer cans he left sitting on the floor. “You drank quite a few of these.”

Liuer takes the can from her and starts drinking from it. “Can’t just waste things,” he explains before anyone can question or stop him. It’s different from how it tasted last night, and is probably not the best thing to help the nauseous feeling he has. Apparently, this shows on his face, also maybe with how he coughs after he downs the last of it.

“That’s why you don’t drink flat beer when you’re hungover,” Longma scold as they hand him the styrofoam cup that used to hold his iced tea, but now held a warm drink.  _ Coffee. _ “We should be heading out soon. Thank you guys for having us.”

“Thank you for coming!” Kai wraps an arm around Longma’s waist and pulls them closer to kiss their face. “Drive safe okay?”

Longma has a smile on their face, and Liuer feels a weird ache in his chest. “I will.” Longma turns towards him on the couch. “You ready to go?”

Liuer only nods. Again, he sits in the front passenger seat. He knows that if he feels like puking, he can just roll down the window. His head hurts and everything is just too bright. He gets out of human form as soon as they leave the apartment complex. Longma passes him a concerned look. Liuer just pulls his hood up and tugs on the drawstrings.

He should just sleep. His head will stop hurting faster if he sleeps. And he’s just so damn tired. The monkey brings his feet up on the seat and curls himself up tightly. His tail curls around himself, and Liuer leans his head against the window. The coolness of the glass helps a bit to soothe the pain in his head. He  _ thinks _ he falls asleep. He’s not actually sure.

One thing the monkey  _ is _ sure of is he’s definitely awake after Longma’s phone starts ringing. Liuer jumps and almost climbs up the back of his seat in a panic. “That’s  _ him! _ He’s calling because he knows something’s up!”

“Just calm down. Nothing bad is going to happen.” Longma reaches for the phone. “Go to back to sleep.”

How was he supposed to sleep  _ now!? _ Liuer’s heart is hammering in his chest. He picks up his now lukewarm coffee and starts drinking it. He has to drink  _ something. _ When Longma answers their phone, the monkey can’t stop himself from listening in. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Hey. I was wondering if you could maybe tell me more about this spirit guy you’re bringing home?”

“A guy that doesn’t have a handle on things. Trust me, it’d be a lot more trouble leaving him on his own instead of bringing him to the house.”

“To be honest, I never took you for the type to bring a stranger home for  _ any _ reason.”

“You’ll understand once you see him, but I’m letting you know right now, I don’t think he’ll be up for talking.”

“You guys are getting close to the house, right?”

“I’m letting him sleep for a bit, but pretty much.”

“Alright. See you guys in a bit then. Wujing and Bajie still aren’t back, so the house might be quiet enough for this mysterious stranger to get some sleep.”

“We’ll see.” Longma hangs up the phone and puts it back down where it had been. “There, see? He won’t try to get answers out of you because you’ll be  _ sleeping _ .”

Liuer stares blankly. He blinks. “That’s…How? Sleep? Can’t.” When did he start talking in single word sentences? Oh, he must have been panicking more than he thought.

“As long as you  _ look _ tired as hell, it’ll be fine.”

Liuer tries to focus on breathing for a moment, an act that hurts just a bit. Tired. Sleep. He can manage that. Definitely. Just… The car pulls up to a house,  _ their _ house. The monkey coughs and scratches at the back of his wrist. Okay, nope. Can’t handle this. He’ll just wait for the car to stop so he can run and….oh, there’s a garage. They’re going into the garage. Welp, can’t quite escape from this, can he?

The car stops as the garage door closes behind them. The engine turns off, and Liuer doesn’t move. “Hey, you need help getting out of the car or something?” There’s a doorway to the rest of the house, and Liuer locks eyes with what is definitely 100% Wukong in human form. “You look like you’re about to-” He opens the car door, steps out, then immediately crouches down and pukes on the concrete floor. Yep. This a disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should be asleep right now.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember when it all fell down

When they were growing up, Wukong noticed a lot of moments where Six-Eared was just…off. Like, for one example, he  _ really _ couldn’t handle loud noises. They’d be playing with other monkeys around their age, all hooting and hollering, and Six-Eared just stopped and pressed his hands tightly against his ears. “His hearing is just sensitive,” the elderly monkey that looked after them explained once. “It’s likely due to the six ears he has.”

That hearing of his actually turned at to have a lot more power to it. Six-Eared could hear things from  _ miles _ away. You could always tell when he was listening to some far off noise. One or two or his ears would twitch, he’d cock his head slightly, then he’d probably say something like, “It’s going to rain later.”

“What makes you think it’s rain?” Wukong would ask.

“The thunder,” Six-Eared would answer. “Pretty sure it’s getting closer. We might actually have a full on storm.”

Storms weren’t an easy thing for  _ either _ small young monkey to handle. Wukong didn’t like the flashing of lightning, or the bits of flooding a storm could cause. Six-Eared couldn’t stand the booming thunder or roar of rainfall echoing in whatever cave they were holed up in. They got better at handling it as they got better, but thunder and lightning could still make them a bit jumpy. Jade Rabbit used to playfully tease them about it.

At some point, Six-Eared started hearing what the two referred to as  _ echos _ . They had started using the term for sounds that happened far ago. Anywhere in the past, really. When Six started hearing things from the  _ future _ , the word just stuck. Either once, the monkey would get that same distant and semi-shocked look when he just freezes up.

It was harder to get Six to talk about those sounds. Especially the future ones. It seemed all to make him upset, and Wukong didn’t like when his brother was upset. An upset Six-Eared Monkey would lie around like he needed a nap, but wouldn’t sleep at all. If it was really bad, he’d scratch his wrists and back of his hands. He’d scratch himself all bloody if someone didn’t stop him.

When Wukong crossed out his name out of the Book of Life and Death, he saw Six-Eared’s entry not too far from his own. The Monkey King felt his blood go cold. For one thing, the date it said he’d die wasn’t very long after the date that had been written for Wukong. But probably the most horrifying thing was the phrase “by his own hand.”

No. No way was his brother dying like that. No way was his brother dying  _ at all _ . Wukong crossed out Six-Eared’s name. Then, he started crossing out other monkeys’ names as well. These bastards weren’t gonna just start taking his family like that. Not if he could help it. He left the Underworld after crossing out as many names as he could get away with.

Wukong woke up in the same place he fell asleep before he was carried off to the Underworld. Six-Eared was posed over him like he was ready to shake him awake. He was teary eyed and clearly surprised when Wukong opens his eyes. “Oh, I… I couldn’t hear…”

The Monkey King abruptly sat up and grabbed Six-Eared by the shoulders. “I was just in the Underworld,” he started excitedly. “It was absolutely some bullshit mistake, so I started going through the Book of Life and Death. I made sure to cross out my name so that mistake wouldn’t happen again, then I crossed out  _ your _ name, then a bunch of the other monkey’s names!”

His brother blinked. “So… most of us are immortal now?”

Wukong nodded vigorously. He bounced with excitement. “We’ve gotta tell  _ everybody! _ ”

While Wukong was gone in the Heavenly Stables, he hardly expected how much more time was passing on earth. He only meant to be gone a few weeks, not a few  _ years _ . How was he supposed to know that time passed more than it did on Heaven? Wukong worried a bit about how his brother handled things alone. Six-Eared was quieter, apparently he wasn’t eating as much, but he always insisted that everything was fine. Wukong hadn’t learned yet to call out that bullshit. No, he  _ did _ learn. He just didn’t care enough.

When Wukong was put in charge of the Peaches of Immortality, he remembered fondly childhood dreams of the monkey brothers and all of their friends each sharing these special peaches with each other. He couldn’t fulfill the dream of sharing them with everyone, but the least the Great Sage could do was try and secretly send one of the peaches to Six-Eared. He never actually knew for sure if his brother got it, but didn’t worry too much about it. It was time for Wukong to have some peaches himself.

The next time the brother saw each other, Wukong had caused havoc in heaven, and Six-Eared was  _ pissed. _ Just about everyone else was ready to believe that he forgot a day on Heaven was a year on earth. But Six-Eared? Hell no. “I  _ know _ you’re not that  _ stupid! _ ” he spat. “We’ve  _ told _ you before! You just didn’t care enough to come back!”

Wukong waved his hand dismissively. “I just forgot!”

“You don’t have a  _ shittty memory! _ ” Wukong turns around to lounge back facing away from his brother. “If you did, it’s  _ clearly _ because you. Didn’t.  **CARE** .”

Jade Rabbit and Bull King were sitting off to the side, wondering if they should step in. “I do  **_care_ ** , okay?” Wukong was certain this small dispute would blow over. He wanted it to, and he had yet to  _ not _ get what he wanted. Six-Eared angrily grabbed Wukong by the shirt and forced him to his feet. “Hey! Watch it!” Wukong knocked the other monkey’s hand away. “Are you trying to start something?”

“You were gone for nearly  _ two centuries! _ ”

“It was six months!”

“Six months spent spent wondering around, visiting  _ anywhere _ but here! You think that’s any better!? You still  _ abandoned _ us!”

“I didn’t abandon ANYONE! You’re just full of yourself!”

“Oh,  _ I’m _ full of myself?”

“Yeah! You’re all piss poor because I decided not to spend all of my time with  _ you! _ ”

“Okay, you two need to  _ stop! _ ”

“You stay out of this,  _ rabbit! _ ” And that’s what got Wukong a punch in the face. For a moment, he was dazed. He couldn’t believe that someone would  _ dare _ . But there the Six-Eared Monkey stood, glaring razor sharp daggers, his fist still extended outwards after that punch. “Oh, so you are looking for a fight!”

“Fuck you.” Six-Eared pounced. The two monkeys brawled. They crawled and punched and kicked at each other. Wukong knew he wasn’t trying to hold back. He knew he could actually  _ kill him. _ But quite frankly, he. Didn’t. Care.

Bull King was the one to finally separate the two. Wukong was physically pulled back, and Six-Eared stumbled backwards into a wall. “What the  _ hell _ is with you two? You’re  **_brothers_ ** !”

Six-Eared spit out a bit of blood off to the side. He said directly at Wukong in a low growl, “You’re no brother of mine.” He got up and stormed out of the room.

Jade Rabbit looked out the door where he left for a moment. She turned and shot the Monkey King and dirty glare. “You’re a real asshole.” She ran out of the room. That left just Wukong on Bull King.

“They’ll be back,” Wukong declared, dusting himself off. “And if they won’t, it doesn’t really matter anyway.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been updating this daily until now. With NaNoWriMo coming to an end and exams coming up, updates will be either every other day or weekly. Thank you for enjoying the story!


	26. Chapter 26

Wukong is pacing. Sanzang is sitting on the couch, Longma is tidying up the kitchen, and his back-from-the-dead brother is lying on the couch in the basement hungover and sick. What a way to start the gregorian new year. Was this bad luck? Some bad omen for the rest of the year? “Someone should be down their with him,” Wukong says. “Make sure he doesn’t choke on his own vomit. Or freak out and end up hurting himself.”

“Well, I’ve done all I could,” Longma shouts from the kitchen. “Gave him my earmuffs. Got him fast food. Distract him from bigger problems for a bit. Brought him somewhere safe with people who would know better what to do for him.”

“You gave him alcohol! And he’s clearly pretty hecking sick!”

“I only gave him half a glass of wine. He got those cans of beer on his own.” Longma sighs and puts down the clothe they were using to wipe down the counter. “I wasn’t about to just leave him, and taking him here would have freaked him out.”

“Should… we call Wujing or Bajie to let them know?” Sanzang asks. “Or… should we call a hospital if he’s in such bad shape?”

Wukong sighs and rubs his face. “No… not yet. I just…” He sighs again and flops down on the couch next to his fiancé. “I  _ really _ thought he was dead. And he seemed to hate me so much. I really didn’t want to deal with that with all the good memories from when we were kids.”

“He’s more scared of you than he hates you,” Longma calls from the kitchen. “Also he can probably hear us with those ears of his.”

“Of course.” Wukong leans into Sanzang’s side and rests his head on their shoulder. The monk reaches a hand up and gently runs fingers through his hair.

“Things can get better, right?” Sanzang tries and soothes. “He can get better.”

“He  _ will _ get better.” Wukong tilts his head up to plant a kiss on the monk’s jaw. He grasps the hand running through his hair gently. “I should go check in, shouldn’t I?”

“It would be best.”

Wukong takes Sanzang’s hand out of his hair and gently kisses their knuckles. “Alright. See you in a bit.” The monkey stands up and starts walking towards the basement stairs. He takes in a deep breath before beginning the descent.  _ It’s fine. It’ll be fine. _ Wukong should apologize for the shit he said all those years ago. During their fight after the Havoc in Heaven. He never got to properly apologize.

When the monkey gets to the last few steps, he begins to tiptoe. No need to wake up the other if he’s sleeping peacefully. The Six-Eared Monkey lies belly down on the black futon with one arm hanging off the side. There’s a bucket next to where his hand brushes against the floor, put there in case he needs to puke again. Those fluffy pink earmuffs are still on Six’s head, although they are now a bit lopsided.

Wukong tiptoes a bit closer to the futon to get a better look. That sleeping position has to be making breathing difficult. He can hear the strain in the other monkey’s breathes. His hair is a greasy, tangled  _ mess. _ Oh Heavens, has his brother really been living out on the streets this whole time? Six suddenly jolts his head up from the arm he’d been using as a pillow. Now he and Wukong are looking face to face.

“Uh, hey,” Wukong begins softly after a moment of tense silence. “You feeling any better?”

Six sneezes into his arm and wipes his nose on the cuff of his sleeve. “Sorry. Puked on the floor.”

Wukong tilts his head. “Are you talking about in the garage? Don’t worry about it. It’s not too hard to clean that stuff off of concrete. We could just pull out a hose and be done in a few minutes.”

Six blinks slowly. “...sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?”

“I….sorry?”

“You look pretty out of it.” Wukong straightens out the earmuffs on his brother’s head. “You should flip over or something before you go back to sleep. Isn’t it hard to breathe like that?”

“Fine.” Six rolls over slightly so that his back can press against the back of the futon. “Water?”

“You want some?” The monkey on the couch nods. “Alright, I’ll get you some.” Wukong turns and starts to leave. Six remains silent, maybe fallen asleep. That’s fine, he could use the rest. Maybe later, he could get a bath or shower, and a nice, home-cooked meal if he was up for it. Later. Right now, water.

Wukong makes his way over to the kitchen. Longma is still in the kitchen, looking around for something to nitpick and tidy. When they notice him enter, they ask, “How’s he doing?”

“Kinda out of it.” Wukong walks over to the cupboard and pulls out a cup. “He kinda woke up and asked for some water.”

The dragon grabs the cup and tries pulling it out of Wukong’s hand. “I can take care of it.”

Wukong blinks and lets go of the cup for Longma. “You sure?”

They start filling the cup up from the sink. “Yeah. My room’s down there anyway. I still have to put away the stuff from my bag.”

Wukong furrows his brows and brings a hand up to his chin. He snaps his fingers when a thought comes to mind. “Oh! Is this about that childhood crush you told me about a while back?”

The dragon whipped their head around so quickly. Their face is so flushed. “ _ No, _ it  _ doesn’t! _ ” they hissed. “Also, in case you’ve forgotten, he has SUPER HEARING!”

Wukong laughs. “I’m just joking! I know that was a long time ago. And like I said, he’s pretty out of it.”

Longma huffs. “You better hope so.” They push past the monkey to head towards the basement stairs. “By the way,” they call over their shoulder, “Sanzang said they were heading up to your room. Something about tidying up after last night? What did you guys get up to last night?”

“Wedding plans.” Wukong starts heading upstairs to find the monk. He’s told them a general idea of this morning of how he grew up with Six-Eared. Maybe now he could elaborate more on that, and the point where Wukong became an asshole that drove them apart. He pokes his head into the bedroom and spots Sanzang picking up photos and magazine clippings that were left on the floor. “Hey,” he calls.

The monk looks up at the monkey and smiles. “How is he doing?”

“He was a little out of it, but he should be better after a bit,” Wukong says walking into the room. “Didn’t look like he puked again. I think Longma’s looking after him for a bit.” He sits down on the floor next to Sanzang. The monkey starts to help pick things up. “Any word from Wujing or Bajie yet?”

Sanzang’s face falls. “No… Should we try to text them? Or call? It’s already past noon. What if-”

Wukong interrupts the monk rambling by wrapping an arm around their waist and pulling them closer. “You don’t need to worry too much,” he soothes. “We could text Wujing. He’s the more responsible one.”

Sanzang leans into him. “Yeah…” They pull out their phone from their pocket. Wukong watches the monk type out a message.

**Me:** How long were you and Bajie staying out? It’s already passed noon.

**Wujing:** It turned out Dionysus was hosting the party. Things got pretty crazy.

Wukong scrunches up his face. “I remember the kinds of parties that guy threw back in the day. I’ve heard he toned things down just a bit, but they’re still wild crazy!”

Sanzang turns to look at the monkey. “When were you going to parties?”

“Before the Havoc in Heaven stuff. Hey! You got another text!” He quickly changed the subject. Even if all of that stuff was so long ago, the monk didn’t need to know about his  _ party phase _ .

**Wujing:** We’re gonna get a ride from someone else. It shouldn’t be too long before we get home.

**Me:** Okay. We have a guest in the basement, by the way.

**Wujing:** I’ll try to keep drunk and hungover Bajie out of the way.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Invitaions

The average engagement lasts twelve to eighteen months. The average couple has been together two to five years before they get married. Wukong and Sanzang have known each other for well over a thousand years. Wukong and Sanzang plan to have their wedding five months after the monkey had proposed. May, where spring starts turning into summer.

So now, on this rainy March day, they’re working on wedding invitations. At the same time, they’re working on narrowing down their invite list. “Wukong, why did you put the _Jade Emperor_ on the invite list?”

The monkey shrugs. “I remember him saying something like ‘I’d hate to have to witness a monkey’s wedding, but it will never get married anyway,’ or something. I put him on there out of spite, I guess.”

Sanzang holds up the blank invitation they were about to fill out. “Do you actually want him to come?”

“No. He’s still pretty mad and/or scared or me. Things would pretty intense with him there.” Wukong picks up the list to take a look at it again. “Do we actually need to send formal invitations to the others? We live with them, and all.”

The monk taps their chin as they consider this. “It’s part of the experience of being a wedding guest, is it not?”

“Guess that’s right.” Wukong picks up another blank invitation. Suddenly, footsteps thunder down the hallway. Liuer tries skidding to a stop, but ends up falling on his face. Sanzang jumps. Wukong looks at the other monkey with a raised eyebrow. “Are you okay there?”

Liuer pushes his face off of the floor. “You’re gonna try to invite her, aren’t you?”

The monk looks between the two monkey brothers in confusion. “Who?”

“The- Just- Rabbit!”

“Oh! You mean Jade Rabbit?” Wukong shrugs and turns back to the invitations. “Not sure yet. Maybe?”

“Is this the _same_ Jade Rabbit you fought in India?”

“Yeah. We were all friends when we were kids.”

“She still thinks I’m dead!” Liuer pushes himself up and sits cross-legged on the floor. “She’d be _pissed_ at me for hiding out.”

“Were any of the other people you fought on the Journey old friends of yours?” Sanzang asks.

Wukong scratches his head in thought. “We knew Bull King before he married Iron Fan Princess. Hey, should we invite them, too?”

“They think I’m dead, too!” The Six-Eared Monkey waves his arm to bring attention back to himself. He pauses then brings his hand to his chin. “Although, he might be more chill about it.”

“There’s still plenty of time to tell everyone you’re alive,” Wukong suggests. “The longer you wait, the worse it’s gonna be.”

Liuer huffs. “Do I just walk up to them and go: -” he sits up straighter and lightly waves with a fake smile on his face. “- Hey! Turns out I wasn’t dead! Just spent over a thousand years hiding from everything!” Liuer drops his hand and the smile. “That’ll go over _terribly_.”

Sanzang watches on as the two banter back and forth. They are unsure how to add to the conversation, or if they should. It’s quite remarkable how quickly the monkeys fell into this close brotherly dynamic. Granted, it did take over a month for Liuer to stop cowering around most of them. He still does cower every so often, and barely leaves the house, but that’s still a lot of progress.

“Listen, there’s no way she would come. I think she’s still mad at me.”

“She’d come as soon as she got the invite to see what the big idea is! And-” Liuer stops suddenly. One of his ears twitches. The monkey stays incredibly still. Sanzang knows he’s probably listening for something, but he stays still for a such a long while that they’re getting just a bit worried.

“Is… he okay?” the monk whispers quietly to Wukong.

“He’s probably picking up on something far off,” their fiancé explains in a quiet voice. “Might be a loud one. He’ll probably snap out of it in a few minutes.” He starts working on invitations again. “You think we’ll be able to get Buddha to officiate the ceremony?”

“Maybe?”

“I’m gonna go hide in the kitchen or something,” Liuer declares as he abruptly stands up. Sanzang watches him march stiffly out of the room and into the kitchen. Just as they were about to ask is something was going on, Wukong’s phone got a text notification. The monkey picks up his phone from the table and reads the text with a thoughtful expression.

“How do they keep finding them,” he mutters before putting the phone face down back on the table. “So, Jade Rabbit might come storming in at some point.”

Sanzang gulps. “O-oh…” They remember the rabbit’s tactics from the Journey, and they quickly feel uneasy. “Is….it bad?”

“Hopefully not, but you don’t have to stick around if she makes you uncomfortable. In fact,” Wukong reaches over to the small pile of completed invitations. “She doesn’t have to get invited if you don’t want. I think I put on for her here somewhere…”

The monk stares at him for a moment, then blinks. “You wanted to invite her?”

“If you’re not comfortable with it, she doesn’t have to come. Now where did I- Aha! Here it is!” The monkey holds up an envelope. He holds it out to Sanzang. “You can decide what to do with it.”

Hesitantly, they take hold of the invitation. The monk stares at the envelope for a few moments, then looks up at their fiancé. “You don’t think she’d try to cause trouble, do you?”

“I don’t know. I think Liuer has a better chance of convincing her to stay out of trouble.”

Sanzang looks down at the envelope again. They hear the faint hum of the garage door opening. Sounds like Longma might be back. In just a few minutes, a female voice is heard yelling, “Sx-Eared! Have you really been hiding out for over a thousand years?!” Oh, that’s the Jade Rabbit Spirit, isn’t it?

“That sounds like her,” Wukong confirms. He stands up from the table. “I’ll make sure Liuer doesn’t go crazy with trying to hide. You think you can handle the rest of the invitations?”

“Yeah.” The monkey walks around to give them a quick, chaste kiss.

“I’ll be back.” Wukong walks into the kitchen, leaving Sanzang with the rest of the invitations.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old friend

Something is wrong with the Six-Eared Monkey. Something emotional or mental, but not exactly autism like Juniper suspected he might have. No, there was something else happening with the monkey. There were times when he seemed not fully there, or unaware of where he is and if he’s really there. Longma had tried looking things up online, but they couldn’t find clear answers.

Maybe, they thought, getting some of Liuer’s closer childhood friends would help. That’s why the dragon convinced Jade Rabbit to come to the house. At the very least, seeing Six-Eared alive and getting along with Wukong would ease her rage at the Great Sage. The rabbit left the car Longma could turn the engine off. “Jade, wait!” The dragon quickly unbuckles, closes the garage door and follows after her. “He’s still jumpy! You don’t want to scare him!”

“Six-Eared!” she shouts as soon as she steps inside the house. “Have you really been hiding out for over a thousand years!?” Oh, there goes the quiet and peaceful reunion they were hoping for.

“Okay, first of all, he’s not the only one in the house. Wukong and Sanzang are making wedding invitations.”

Jade whips around to face them. “Do you mean to tell me those two are getting  _ married? _ ”

Longma starts to walk past the rabbit and towards the stairs. “Yeah. In May I think. And  _ secondly, _ ” They turn and gesture for Jade to follow up the stairs. “He has this name now. Liuer.”

Jade nods in understanding. “Is that like how your name’s Bai Longma now?”

“I guess, yeah.” At the top of the stairs, the dragon calls out into the the house, “Hey, Liuer! Where are you?”

“He’s in here!” comes Wukong’s voice from the kitchen. “C’mon. The top of the fridge isn’t a good hiding place.”

Longma sighs. “I told you he was jumpy.” They start leading the rabbit to the kitchen.

“Well, he had everyone thinking he was dead for over a  _ millenium! _ ” Jade whines, marching behind them. “How do you  _ expect _ me to react?”

“Well for one, not sounding like you’re pissed.” Stepping into the kitchen, they find Wukong trying to coax down Liuer, who is somehow crouched down on top of the fridge. There aren’t many things that could be used to climb up there, and the space between the top of the fridge and the ceiling is such a tight fit. “....How?”

Wukong turns to face the two. “Oh, uh,” he says awkwardly, “hey, Jade...Rabbit.”

The rabbit puts her hands on her hips and taps her foot. “I’d like to know why everyone’s been hiding one of my best friends from me.” Liuer wiggles back more towards the wall. “And why are you so scared? Yeah, I’m mad, but I’m not going to  _ hurt you _ .”

“Don’t know.”

“I think he’s overwhelmed,” Longma notes. “How about some tea?” The dragon is already pulling out a tea kettle before the others can answer. They start getting everything together to make tea. Even with the comment about Liuer being overwhelmed, Jade still tries to get answers out of the monkey brothers.

“And what were you doing hiding him here?” She asks the Monkey King. “And did I hear that you’re getting  _ married? _ ”

Wukong sighs. “ _ Longma. _ ”

“All I said was that you two were working on invitations,” they say defensively. Longma sets the kettle down on the stove. “Speaking of, shouldn’t you be working on that?”

“Sanzang’s right in the other room. They can yell if they need me.”

“You think they would if it’s not an absolute emergency?”

Wukong opens his mouth as though to say something, but then closes it. He stays still for a few moments, then turns towards Liuer still on top of the fridge. “You’ll be okay, right?

Liuer only nods, a seemingly difficult act with how he’s lying on the fridge. “Yeah.” The monkey has a bit of a meek voice. “Tea.”

“Alright. You guys call if you need me.” Wukong walks backwards out of the room a few steps, then turns around completely and leaves. Now it’s just the three of them: Longma getting cups for tea out of the cupboard, Liuer curled up on top of the fridge, and Jade leaning against the counter.

“Sooo,” the rabbit starts off, “how have you been the past few years?”

The Six-Eared Monkey blinks before widening his eyes in realizing the question was directed towards him. “Uh,” he thinks hard for a moment. “Bad? Maybe good?” He shrugs.

“Well, this year will be better, then.” Jade turns towards Longma. “Are there any snacks we could have? That tea is gonna take a while.”

“There’s fruit.” Longma gestures over to a bowl of peaches on the counter. “Also, there were a lot of other fruit on top of  the fridge, but…” The dragon trails off, then looks towards the monkey to ask, “Where did you put it?”

Liuer reaches his arms out over the edge and opens up the fridge. Somehow, he manages to rummage through the fridge from on top of it. “Which one? Banana, apple, grapefruit?”

“I’ve got it.” Jade Rabbit grasps the fridge door, and begins to look through the contents. “What’s this?” She pulls out a tubaware from the fridge.

“Stew,” Liuer answers. “Wujing made it.”   
“That’s the fish guy, right? I can’t remember well.”

“Yep.”

They’re having somewhat a simple conversation. That’s good. It means both of them are calming down and getting comfortable around each other again. Longma lifts the kettle up from the stove and starts pouring into cups. “Tea’s just about ready.”

The three sit and stand in the kitchen silently sipping on tea. Liuer hasn’t quite come off from the fridge yet, but he’s at least not so backed up against the wall. There’s a minute or two of silence, before Jade Rabbit speaks up, “Why did you hide from everyone?” She stares into her cup of tea. “I was told you were  _ killed _ .”

“I should have been.”

Longma makes a face. “Don’t talk like that.”

“I mean it didn’t make sense that I was still alive?” the monkey elaborates. “And I just kept hiding everywhere and anywhere. I’d disguise myself as so many different people. And I…” Liuer trails off. One of his ears twitch, and he whips his head to the doorway. Wukong stands there awkwardly.

“I, uh,” he shifts his weight from foot to foot. He holds up the envelope in his one hand. “I have an invitation for Jade Rabbit?”

They couldn’t get Liuer to finish his thought after that. He’d only respond with “I’ll tell you later” or “I don’t remember what I was talking about.” Jade Rabbit stayed for dinner, which was only slightly awkward. Longma tries to offer her a ride to wherever it was she was she is staying at, but the rabbit declines. “I can manage,” she says. “It was nice hanging out with you guys again.”

“Yeah.” Longma smiles. “It was.”


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WEDDING

“Oh my  _ gosh _ .”

Wukong turns away from the mirror to face his monkey brother. “What? You hear something?”

“I, when we were,” Liuer’s face looks flushed. “I’m Longma’s childhood crush.”

“Wait, seriously?!” Bajie stands up from his chair in the corner. “I mean, no offense, but I thought they had these weirdly specific standards.”

“We were kids!” Wukong focuses back on the mirror, trying to tie his tie. “No need to make it a big deal now.”

“But…” Liuer trails off. He shakes his head. “Can’t worry about it today. It’s  _ your _ day.”

“Alright, but we’ll go on worrying about it tomorrow, okay?” Wukong furrows his brows. Why did he decide to wear a suit with a tie like this? He just couldn’t get it to look right like it did when he was trying things on. “Bajie, do you know how to tie a tie?” Hopefully, Sanzang was having better luck getting dressed.

The monk had decided to wear something more traditional than a suit. Longma and Wujing put in a lot of effort to combine female and male fashion. Currently, they were helping Sanzang get dressed and ready. They felt this excited anxiousness bubbling up inside them. They try and take a deep breathe.

“You look nervous,” Wujing observes. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be  _ perfect _ .”

“Wukong tried staying up all night to make sure everything was perfect.” Longma dusts off the monk’s shoulders yet again. “We had to drag him the bed. You both worked hard to make sure nothing would go wrong today.”

“I know. I just…” Sanzang lets out a giggle. “I never would have thought this day would come! I never thought…” A slight warmth spreads across their face. “I’m getting  _ married. _ ”

Indeed, today was their wedding day. Their chosen venue was a small park, nice yet not frequently visited. There was also some sort of barrier so every could be out of human form. The current plan for “walking down the aisle,” so to speak, was for Sanzang to go first, then Wukong to come down at the end of the procession. This meant that Sanzang stood nervously at the altar with Buddha him, who promised to officiate. They stand still. Wukong definitely won’t have managed to stand as still.

Everyone else in the small procession comes down: Longma with Liuer, Wujing with Bajie, and Guanyin’s disciple Moksa with Prince Nezha were recruited as flower boys. With everyone else down the aisle, it’s time for Wukong to walk. The moment the monkey comes into view, Sanzang’s breath catches in their throat. They knew he was going to be wearing a suit, but not one like this.

The suit jacket at first glance might be mistakenly called black, but the sunlight right now proves it to be a dark deep red. The tie he’s wearing is a much clearer red with shimmering swirls of gold. The button up shirt he had on was this golden yellow. Wukong’s hair had been pulled back into some semblance of neat, but of course there are bits of hair that can’t just can’t be tamed.

Wukong is similarly awestruck at the sight of the monk. They aren’t as extravagant as the monkey is dressed, but oh, are they still a thing of beauty. A simple red skirt, a dark colored robe, this was his spouse to be. Oh, he couldn’t  _ wait _ to be married to them. Wukong finds himself walking down the aisle faster than originally planned. He doesn’t know when he started running, but he makes it to Sanzang’s side before he knows it.

The two face each other and clasps their hands together. They hardly pay attention to what’s being said. Before getting to their actual vows, the couple gets to each give a small speech. “I know it might be kinda of silly,” Wukong starts. “I mean, we’ve been together for over 1300 years.” He chuckles slightly. “I wasn’t the best person before I met you. I felt like I always had to prove to somebody that I was the best there was, whatever it takes. With you, I don’t need to prove anything. I can just be me, and be happy with that! And I want to keep feeling that happy with you.”

Sanzang has a beaming smile on their face. It’s their turn to give a little speech. “When we first met, I honestly never would have thought something like this would be possible,” they admit. “I never planned on loving someone as much as I love you. Even if this was unexpected or unplanned, I wouldn’t ask for anything different. I’m so happy to be with you! I...can’t put it into words as well as you did, but I want to stay with you.”

Wukong _ really _ wants to kiss him right now. Let’s just finish the vows already, get through the I dos, so he can smooch the love of his life. But first, they have to exchange rings. “Bajie!” Wujing whispers harshly while elbowing the pig. “You’ve got the rings!” Of course, the pig was distracted, crying and smiling. Wujing can’t exactly blame him. After all, the fish is crying, too.

Wukong slips a silver ring onto the monk’s hand, and Sanzang slips on a copper one on the monkey. They clasp their hands together again, and wait for Buddha to begin with the vows. “Wukong, do you take Sanzang as your spouse, to have and to hold, on this world or any other?”

“I do!” The monkey has that big, lopsided smile that makes Sanang’s heart swell. It’s a struggle for the monk not to interrupt Buddha and just say “I do” right in that moment.

“Sanzang, do you take Wukong as your husband, to have and to hold, on this world or any other?”

“I do!” Wukong’s smile somehow grows bigger. He just had to wait a bit longer. Just a few more words.

“Then by the power vested in me,” Buddha takes a long pause. Damn it, he’s doing that on purpose, isn’t he? Making them wait longer. “I now pronounce you husband and spouse!”

The moment he hears the word “husband,” Wukong starts pulling Sanzang closer into a deep kiss. He doesn’t want to wait any longer to kiss his spouse.  _ Spouse. _ Oh, that word feels  _ good. _ Sanzang wraps his arms around the monkey’s neck and gladly deepens the kiss. Wukong sweeps the monk up without breaking contact. They do a full spin before pulling their lips away.

The wedding guests applaud and cheer. Bajie and Wujing are happily crying. Longma hands Liuer a pair of sleek black earmuffs to block out the noise. Guanyin looks at them with that warm, motherly smile of hers. The newlywed couple hardly pays attention to it all. All they each can focus on is their new spouse in their arms. The only sentence that registers in either one’s ears is “Make sure to enjoy your honeymoon.”


	30. Chapter 30

The reception is pretty fun. It’s louder than the actual wedding part, but that’s why Liuer has these ear muffs. They aren’t nearly as fluffy as his other ones, nor do they block out the sound as well. Still, it’s better than nothing. He should thank Longma for bringing them. Speaking of the dragon…

“Hey, Six.” Longma pats his shoulder. “How are you doing?”

The monkey’s face gets warm.  _ Oh geez. _ To drive attention away from himself, Liuer points out to the dancefloor where the newlyweds are dancing together, smiling at eachother like doofuses. “They’re pretty happy.”

The dragon looks out at the couple.  _ Thank Heavens. _ “Yeah. They’ll get to give each other that mushy romantic stare all honeymoon.”

Why is he being particularly bashful around the dragon today? Yes, he actually has a crush on the dragon. His mind wandered to those feelings when getting ready this morning. That’s how Liuer accidentally heard back to their childhood days, the dragon’s fast beating heart, whispers to themself far from where the monkey had been paying attention. How did he not realize sooner?

“Are you okay?” Longma waves a hand in front of his face. “You were zoned out for quite a while. I didn’t think you could listen in like that with all of this noise.”

“I-” Excuse.  _ EXCUSE! _ “I’m thinking of something I heard earlier.”

“What was it?”

Liuer’s face flushes. “Later!” That was probably too loud. And maybe too fast as well. “I’ll worry about it later. After everything’s been cleaned up, you know?”

Longma cocks on eyebrow at him. They want to ask. They want to ask if everything’s okay. “Well, alright then. Well, in the meantime,” the dragon holds out a hand. “Would you like to dance?”

Oh, he very much would love to. Just not in the center of the crowd. Liuer is fine dancing on the outskirts by punch bowls and tables. There’s no attention on him that way. At least, no attention except for Longma’s attention. The dragon looks absolutely  _ stunning _ . Ooooh having their full attention might actually not be a good thing right now. The monkey’s face is starting to burn and of course the dragon notices.

“Do you, uh, need something? Like, you need to go, or...”

“‘M fine.” Oh, that was a voice crack right there. That is definitely not convincing. Longma clearly doesn’t buy it.

“It’s not that big a deal if you need to leave early. It’s not like they’re leaving right from here to their honeymoon.”

“But… cake…” They cake is going to be cut soon enough. “I could at least wait around for that.”

As if on cue, the two hear Wukong call out excitedly that it’s time to cut the cake. Longma sighs. “How about we eat our cake and get out of here. That good?”

“Alright.” It’s not alright. Liuer will end up at the house alone in the house with Longma, and he is  _ not _ ready for that with all of the feelings he has and what he knows now. Just because the dragon had a crush on him in the past, doesn’t mean there are any feelings now. And even if it turned out they  _ did _ like him back, the monkey didn’t want to go plowing right into an intimate relationship. That would be too much change all at once, and he doesn’t want to think about all of that right now.

Liuer focuses on the cake. It’s a nice soft and moist texture, and there’s a perfect cake to frosting ratio. It helps greatly to lift the monkey’s mood. He knows that after cake, people tend to start leaving the party. This means that old friends that came for the wedding come up to Liuer for one final awkward conversation. Bull King didn’t bring Iron Fan Princess. Their relationship is probably as poor as the monkey predicted it would be years ago. 

Longma drives him and the couple home while Bajie and Wujing stay to clean things up. The car ride isn’t anything interesting. The newlyweds are being cutsy couple in the back seat. Liuer is all tense in the front passenger seat. Longma has their eyes glued to the road. Oh, this is awkward, isn’t it? Liuer should say something!

“I’m, uh,” He draws up blank. DAMN IT! Attention is on him now! He’s gotta say  _ something! _ “I… I forgot what I was going to say…”

“Well, that happens sometimes.”

“Hey, Liuer, you look pretty tense,” Wukong notices from the backseat. “You worrying about something?”

“It’s….nothing important?”

“Is it  _ really _ nothing important, or are you just saying that?”

“I’ll talk when I’ll talk, but it’s, like your  _ wedding night _ , isn’t it?” Mentioning the wedding again surely brings back Wukong’s giddy high from all that lovey stuff. At least, that’s what Liuer is relying on here. That trick should work on the monk, too. “Just worry about your honeymoon and shit.”

“He has a point.” Thank the heavens Longma seems to be on his side. “If he was really panicking or freaking out about something, he wouldn’t be talking so much.” They’ve already pulled up to the house when they say this. “You two just enjoy your night. Get ready for your honeymoon tomorrow. Whatever, just don’t worry about what everybody else is doing.”

Liuer exists the car quickly. “I’m gonna get out of these shoes. And fancy clothes.” He was never one for flashy, fancy looks. It’s at least an excuse to go to be by himself in his room. “See ya guys later.”

The monkey’s room was the smaller of the two bedrooms in the basement. He doesn’t mind at all. It’s cozy, and far enough from the noisiest parts of the house. As a plus, the other bedroom down there is occupied by Longma, so he gets to run into them a bit more often. Liuer slips into his room, and presses his back against the closed door. His face is warm. Oh geez. Why did he suddenly imagine-- No! No no not gonna think about that now!

Liuer slides down to the floor. Oh, does he really have it that bad? Has it been long enough for him to have it this bad? Oh shit, how does he even handle this? Longma is already dating someone, but that someone is also dating another someone as well. Liuer doesn’t remember the name for it, and he can’t read well enough yet to look it up himself quietly. Maybe Longma would like to date more than one person as well? Should he ask them about it? Would that be rude? Would it be too obvious what Liuer’s hoping for?

A light tapping on the door brings him out of his thoughts. “Hey.” OF FREAKING COURSE THE DRAGON IS CHECKING IN ON HIM! “Just wanted to let you know, you looked pretty good today.”

_ HOLY SHIT! _ “Y-you did too! Really elegant!”  _ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA _


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bathtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swear these steamy parts are relevant to the plot. Like, you'll have to trust me on this.

Bathing with others didn’t  _ used _ to be such a big deal when he lived with other monkeys. Maybe that had to do with the fact that monkeys weren’t that shy about being nude around one another either. Wukong only got nervous about being seen naked after he ran into so many who tried to call him a woman. With how nervous he was in that moment, he was starting to think that him and Sanzang taking a bath together  _ might _ have been a bad idea.

“It’s just a bath in a hot spring,” Wukong had said. “It’s not like we can’t do that without…you know.” And still, they faced away from each other to undress. Wukong’s face burned and his heart raced. Just  _ why _ was he suddenly feeling so self-conscious? Usually it was the monk who felt shy and self-conscious.

(Don’t try to say you’re not. You were and still are.)

“You’re still okay with this right?” Wukong called back to Sanzang. “This isn’t to  _ weird _ for you, or anything?”

“I’m fine,” the monk replied. “Just…nervous is all. I haven’t bathed with others since I was a child.”

Wukong also hadn’t bathed with another in so long, but he didn’t tell Sanzang as much. He jumped into the hot spring as soon as the last of his clothing was removed. The sooner his body was submerged in the hot water, the better. The water was deep enough that it just about covered the monkey’s shoulders if he sat, which he did.

He felt all…  _ weird _ inside. Like that funny feeling a bit further south that Wukong could totally take care of if he was alone. But he  _ wasn’t _ alone, and doing _ that _ with Sanzang here would be  _ awkward. _ Just the monk finding out he  _ did _ that stuff would be awkward.

(You  _ clearly _ aren’t bothered by it anymore.)

(Hey, I think that’s the first time  _ you’ve _ been the one in interrupt  _ me! _ )

(Get into much more detail about certain things, and I just might interrupt  _ more _ .)

(Sounds like a challenge to me.)

(It is  _ not _ a challenge!)

Wukong felt and heard the water move as Sanzang got in the water. The pair sat about a foot apart in the water. “It’s not too hot for you, is it?” the monkey asked, as to not be left in uncomfortable silence.

“No it’s… nice. Very warm.”

“That’s good.” Wukong chanced a look towards the monk.  _ Gods, _ they were beautiful. (Even if this was back before even  _ you _ knew, I’m not gonna call you  _ he _ when remembering.) “It’s relaxing, isn’t it?” 

Sanzang only hummed a response. The monk closed their eyes and took a deep breath. After they exhaled, they said, “Relaxing.”

Slowly, Wukong leaned closer to Sanzang to rest his head on their shoulder. The monk wordlessly reached a hand up and brushed their fingers through the monkey’s hair. “Your hair is very much tangled,” they noted, “and  _ really _ in need of a wash.”

“If it bothers you, maybe you could wash it for me?” Wukong suggested. “You could keep running your fingers through my hair that way.”

“Do you mind sitting in front of me for that? It would be easier to wash your hair that way.”

Wukong let out an overly dramatic sigh. “I  _ suppose _ I will, if I must.” The water swished and splashed while he crawled to place himself in front of the monk. He leaned back a bit on the palms of his hands so Sanzang could more easily soak his hair. As always, the monk was incredibly gentle. Wukong closed his eyes and tilted his head back more. He could very easily fall asleep like this.

Several minutes past, and at this point, the monk combed through his hair simply for the feeling of doing so. Not that Wukong minded much. The sensation put him into into a calm, trance-like state. Abruptly, Sanzang stopped and pushed the monkey away into a more upright position. Wukong blinked in momentary confusion. He turned around to face the monk. “You okay?”

Sanzang’s face was solid red. Their knees were pulled closer to his chest. “I- I’m-” The monk curled in on themself almost ashamedly. They cast their eyes downwards, refusing to look their companion in the eye.

Wukong tried to think about what was going on. “Did things get too weird? Are you-” His eyes widened and his face warmed as a realization hit him. The way Sanzang was curled, it was like they were specifically trying to hide… “Oh…  _ oh  _ you’re-” Wukong cleared his throat. “Do you want me to…I mean, only if you want to?”

Sanzang sat in thought. “It- It’s not really be fair, is it? I’d just be… I can’t just  _ use _ you for my own personal pleasure. I-” The monk cut themself off.

“You’re  _ not! _ I  _ want _ to! Really!” Wukong shifted so he was sitting beside them again, and cupped Sanzang’s face in one of his hands. “It’s okay if you don’t want it anymore, but just know that I  _ like _ doing it.”

The monk didn’t seem so convinced. “But...you don’t….what about  _ you? _ You get to feel-” Again, Sanzang cut themself off. They place a hand over the one on their face. Wukong could feel the heat coming off their face. “You should get to feel something, too…”

_ Oh…. _ Wukong’s face went hot. So,  _ that’s _ what they were worried about? “I, uh,” he struggled with words for a moment. “It’s a bit different from….I’d have to kinda show you how. Is that okay? You’re really okay with this?”

The monk nodded. “You’re not uncomfortable with it, are you? Maybe I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry, I-”

“It’s okay.” Wukong gently took hold of Sanzang’s hand, and leaned in close enough so they could feel every breath of his words. “Listen close okay?”

Despite how warm the water was, Sanzang shivered. At first, Wukong guided the monk’s hand, but they learned fast. The water was hot. Everything was hot. Maybe at the end of it all, it was  _ too _ hot. But,  _ oh _ , was it  **_amazing_ ** _. _


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honeymoon

There’s something absolutely  _ wonderful _ about waking up next to your new spouse. It may not be so different from any other day they’ve woken up together. The two are wrapped up in each others arms, their feet are tangled together, tail is out and unhidden. One thing that makes this morning different is Wukong nuzzling his face into Sanzang’s neck saying “Good morning my lovely spouse.”

The monk smiles, and a slight warmth spreads across their face. “Good morning my darling husband.”

Wukong smiles wide. He plants a kiss on Sanzang’s neck, pulling a squeak out of them. “That’s not too much, is it?”

“No. Just surprising. And…” the monk trails off. They decide to try and change the subject. “What time is it?”

“Sun hasn’t been up for very long,” the monkey responds, “so it’s still rather early. Is it okay for us to lay and snuggle for a bit longer?”

“Of course!” Sanzang answers. “And….and maybe we could…kiss for a bit?”

Wukong pulls his face out of the crook of their neck. He has on a smile and a tint of pink on his cheeks. “Gladly.” The distance between their lips closes quickly. First, it’s just a quick little peck, but their lips quickly meet again for a deeper, more passionate kiss. The two roll over so Sanzang is on their back and Wukong is on top of them. The monk makes a noise. A whine, a moan, they don’t know what. However, the sound is enough that Wukong decides to pull away.

“You alright?”

“Yeah.” Sanzang tries to catch their breath. “It’s  _ really _ nice to kiss my husband.” The word feels sweet in their mouth. They don’t think they’ll ever get tired of saying it. It’s looks like Wukong feels the same about hearing it.

He leans in close to his spouse’s ear and whispers, “Your husband has a lot of sweet things planned for you tonight.” Wukong pulls his face away from them. “But that’s only if you’ll be okay with doing all of it. I’m not gonna force you to do anything just because we’re married now.”

Sanzang cups his face gently. “I know you wouldn’t.”

Wukong smiles lovingly down on them. “We should feed ourselves, shouldn’t we? Before we have to leave?”

“That would be a good idea, yes.”

Wukong places a final kiss on Sanzang’s forehead before getting off of them. He sits on the edge of the bed and stretches his arms out above his head. He shifts into his human form and goes about getting dressed. Their honeymoon plans involve going to a lonely cabin.The monkey feels a fond smile spread on his face. A cabin alone in the woods sounds incredibly romantic, doesn’t it?

First, some good breakfast. Wujing makes them a nice vegetarian meal. He also helps them pack up some food for their trip. “This will be enough for your trip, right?”

“We can always stop by the store if it’s not,” Sanzang says. “Though I’m pretty certain this will be enough.”

Longma is the one that gives them a ride to the cabin. They drive the thirty - fifty hour drive to the cabin. “You guys owe me something,” the dragon says when they arrive at the cabin. “Like, I don’t know. I think I’m starting to become the team chauffeur.”

“We can learn to drive when we get back.” Wukong pulls out their baggage from the trunk.

“We appreciate you driving us all the way here,” Sanzang thanks.

Longma sighs. “I’ll probably stop at some places I saw on the way, so it’s not too big a deal.”

“Hey, Sanzang!” The monk turns around to see Wukong balancing all of their baggage (which only amounts to three or four bags) in one hand. “I bet I’ll be able to carry everything in in just one trip!”

“Wukong, wait!” Sanzang turns to Longma to quickly say, “See you in two weeks!” They then turn back around to chase after their husband. “You could drop one! At least let me carry  _ something! _ ”

Wukong laughs. He does let his spouse carry the lightest of the bags, but he carries the rest in on one finger just to show off. Sanzang enters the cabin laughing at his antics. This is where the couple get their first look at the inside of the cabin. Sure, they had seen photos online, but nothing compares to the real thing. There’s just about three rooms in the whole cabin: a bathroom, a bedroom, and a combined living area and kitchen.

The monkey drops the bags down on the old sofa. “I should check to see if that fridge is plugged in,” he says. “Start putting things away if it is.”

“I guess I can start putting things in the bedroom.”

The two go about putting things away for their stay. Food is stored in the cupboard and the refrigerator, which is in fact plugged in. The smallish dresser in the bedroom fits their clothes well enough. Given that they had not much baggage in the first place, it doesn’t take too long for them to get settled in for the next two weeks. Now all that’s left to do is fill up those two weeks with something to do.

On later days, they can go on walks to enjoy nature, or swim in the stream that’s not very far. Right now though, they snuggle up together on the old couch and drink some iced tea. It’s a nice, lazy, summer afternoon. The night has a bit more activity. Technically, it wasn’t quite night yet. The light from the setting sun is still shining in through the bedroom window.

The bed seems to be just a bit old or cheaply made. It’s not that it’s  _ completely uncomfortable _ , or that it’s falling apart. It’s just that every so often, if weight is shifted to just the right spot on the mattress, it creaks. Wukong can’t figure out how to completely avoid causing the creak. It always seems to come out of nowhere. He’s glad that their bed back home doesn’t unexplainably creak, or else their housemates would make assumptions about what exactly is going on to make those noises.

Okay, to be fair, those assumptions might be just a tad bit close to what they’re doing now. Both of them are lying on the bed, Wukong on top of Sanzang. The two are caught in a kiss that is just so  _ sweet _ and  _ deep _ . Both of them are still completely clothed, but who knows how long that will last? Everything is just so  _ warm, _ Sanzang feels like they could go dizzy from all of this heat.

The monk has their fingers running through Wukong’s hair. The monkey gently brushes his fingers up and down their side, feeling every curve and edge. Wukong plays with the hem of their shirt, and Sanzang wants to pull him even closer. The husband pulls away just enough for their lips to part so his spouse can catch their breath. “Are you okay?” he asks quietly.

“Yeah.”

Wukong slips his hand partly under Sanzang’s shirt, feeling smooth bare skin with his fingertips. “Is this okay?”

Again, the monk answers, “Yes.”

“And you’re still okay with us doing this? It’s not like we need to do this  _ tonight. _ Or  _ at all _ for that matter. If you don’t want to, we-”

“Wukong,” Sanzang cups his face with their hand. “I  _ want _ to. Tonight, or any night this week, as long as it’s with  _ you _ .”

Wukong smiles warmly. As he leans back in to kiss his spouse again, he says, “I think I’d like to tonight.”


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six-Eared didn't have an easy life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Implied self-harm and referenced abuse

Six-Eared always felt like he was stuck in Wukong’s shadow. He was good enough before the stone monkey came along. The Old King adopted him as a grandson. Six-Eared would probably become king if anything happened to the king, not that he liked to think about that much. He was good enough until he had a brother to be compared to.

Everyone loved Wukong. He was better than his brother at  _ everything. _ Six-Eared just wanted to prove he could be good at things, too. That white-robed antler guy had lured him in with promises of great power and proving he could actually be  _ better _ than the other young prince. Of course, young Six-Eared fell for it. He shouldn’t have been so stupid. The young monkey kept this Master a secret from everyone throughout the rest of his time on Flower Fruit Mountain.

Wukong spent five hundred years under mountain. Six-Eared spent five hundred years in a living hell. The moment the armies of heaven came to bring death and destruction on his home, he was dragged away before he could do anything about it. Every lesson the Master taught was  _ pain _ . Six-Eared was trapped. He didn’t even have the freedom of death.

It was by some impossible miracle that he escaped when he did. Six-Eared blamed Wukong for  _ everything. _ Wukong brought the armies of heaven to their home. Wukong left them for years at a time. Wukong just had to be better at everything! He kissed Six-Eared’s crush when they were like twelve or thirteen! Wukong got  _ everything _ and Six-Eared got  _ nothing! _ And somehow,  _ he’s _ the one destined for a happy ending? NO!

His plan was to take Wukong’s place. It wasn’t guaranteed to work, but Six-Eared would at least get to fight out his anger with Wukong. He’d get the happy ending he deserved if it worked. If it didn’t, Wukong would probably kill him. Either way, he wouldn’t have to go back to Master. As long as he didn’t have to go back to that hell hole, he’d do anything. That’s why waking up alive and himself was the most terrifying thing.

How did he survive? He didn’t know. Maybe Master did something because “You are not permitted to die.” Or maybe Wukong did something and let him live. Whatever it was, it was too dangerous to be the Six-Eared Macaque. He spent a thousand years disguising himself as anyone but himself. He spent a thousand years forgetting exactly who he was. He spent a few centuries struggling to remember. It was a miracle that Master never found him during that time.

By the time Longma found him, he remembered. Liuer spent a day or two in a daze on their couch. He wasn’t taking good enough care of himself. When the monkey had enough awareness, he had a good conversation with Longma. “Honestly, if I knew you were that sick, I never would have taken you to Kai and Juniper’s. I would have taken you to a hospital or back here!”

Liuer scrunched up his nose. “No.  _ Bad _ .”

“Well, anyway,” Longma changed the subject, standing up. “Wukong’s been wanting to have an actual conversation with you. I’ll go get him now.”

“Wait!” Liuer grabbed onto the dragon’s wrist with both hands. “No!”

“Seriously, he’s not going to hurt you,” Longma tried to reassure him. “He’s been coming down to check on you every so often. That’s not something he’d do if he was out to get you.”

“No!” Liuer stressed. “I-” he muttered to himself in a mixture of English and Cantonese that only he could make sense of. He wasn’t scared of another Wukong would do. He was scared of how he’d react instinctually. How could Liuer say that in a way Longma would understand? “I’m-  _ me! _ ” Oh, how eloquent.

Longma looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. “Okay, maybe you’re still out of it? Or you’re freaking out a bit?” They pulled at the hands starting to grip too tightly to their wrist. “But he’s bringing down lunch in about….” The dragon trailed off, and Liuer’s ears twitched under the earmuffs. He was coming down the stairs already! Can’t.  _ Can’t. _

The monkey practically dived back under the blankets. He pulled the blankets over his head and curled up face down in the cushions.  _ Don’t panic. Don’t panic! _ He bit down on his hand as hard as he could. Pain distracted from panic. Unless he was found in pain like that. In that case, he’d panic more. Currently, he was hidden under the covers, so Liuer didn’t worry about being seen.

“You’ve….you’re way too jumpy. Like….” Longma trailed off. Liuer heard to slight tapping of the dragon texting on his cellphone. This left the monkey in the dark about whatever they were saying or whoever they were saying it to. The answer to the last one is revealed when a phone chimes from around the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey, I’m right here now. I know you can be clueless about taking care of people sometimes, but you’re not panicking  _ now _ , are you?” Wukong joked.  _ Of frickin’ course. _

“I’m not the one panicking here.” They were likely gesturing in someway to Liuer hiding on the couch.

“Uh, hey,” Wukong said softly, poking at his head. “Even you need your food. Peaches are still your favorite right?”

Peaches were his favorite? Yeah...Yeah! Liuer loved peaches as a kid! But….the monkey slacked his jaw just a bit and tasted blood in his mouth. Oh, he hoped his hand wasn’t bleeding too much now. That would be really  _ really _ bad. They’ve seen him weak enough as it is!

“You….What happened? You’re seriously freaking out!” Of course Wukong would notice! The Great Sage tried to pull back the covers to get a look at Liuer. “I remember what happened last time I saw you freaking out like this. You-” The Six-Eared Monkey didn’t let the blankets get pull off of his head. He forgot! He forgot once as teens, Wukong found him when he was….

_ Blood. Blood on his hands. Blood on his knife. Blood soaking his fur. Yes, this was something Master could fix rather easily, but it was going to be incredibly painful when he heals. Even after that, there would be punishment for such weakness. “What are you doing!?!” Or someone would find him. That’s pretty bad, too. “Stop it! Hey!” Six-Eared was suddenly tackled and pinned to the ground by his teary eyed brother, Sun Wukong. _

“I tried to tell- well,  _ text _ you!” Longma began while Wukong continued to fight the blanket away. “I think he’s- this wasn’t normal after I left, was it?”

“‘M fine!” Liuer squeaked. “Fine! Good!”

“Clearly, you’re not!” Finally, Wukong gave up on trying to take the blanket. Either he felt it wasn’t worth it or Longma shouldn’t have to see whatever Liuer was doing. “No one’s going to hurt you here. Not even yourself.” Six-Eared wonders just how he planned on enforcing that.


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is quite the first date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warning for heavily implied self harm at the beginning and referenced as few more times after.
> 
> And now, the longest chapter I've written so far.

There’s something odd about watching bleeding wounds on his own bare arms. No fur to partly hide the extent of injuries. Red drips and flows differently without fur to soak it up and get in the way. The shower water also affects how it all flows. One plus of doing this in human form was how much easier it was to clean himself up.

A knock on the bathroom door, and Liuer is startled out of his trance-like state. He almost slips and falls on his ass. “Hey, did you wanna go shopping today?” Longma. Oh, that sweet dragon. “Just the two of us. I noticed you haven’t left the house since the wedding.”

“O-okay! Sure!” Liuer’s voice cracks a bit. It  _ has _ to be obvious the he was in the middle of doing  _ something! _ Oh, what if they thought he was….

“Alright. We can head out to the car in about 10-15 minutes.” The dragon walks away from the bathroom door. Fifteen minutes. That should give him enough time to clean this mess up. He could use that box of bandages he snatched from somewhere. Liuer turns off the water and wipes up his bleeding arm with a dark colored washcloth. This only takes like ten minutes to fully clean and wrap up.

The monkey spends a minute or two staring at himself in the mirror. The hoodie hides his arm well enough. He’s not sure if the pants he’s wearing are good enough for going out. And he doesn’t have his earmuffs on him at the moment. Those are in his bedroom somewhere. Liuer quickly runs out of the bathroom to quickly grab them. He’ll need them if they’re going shopping somewhere, even if earmuffs look weird in the summer.

By the car, Liuer takes in the appearance of Longma. He tilts his head slightly. “Is….is today  _ he _ …. or just  _ they _ still?”

“Yeah, today feels like more of a ‘he’ day.” Longma slightly loosens his low ponytail. “Aren’t you gonna get hot in that?”   
“I’m….cold.” Well that was a pretty stupid excuse. He can tell from Longma’s cocked eyebrow and eyes squinting in suspision. “I like this hoodie.” That’s better at least.

Longma’s face goes back to a neutral expression. He unlocks the car and opens the front passenger door for Liuer. “There’s quite a few sales going on at the mall today. Might be able to get some things for you, too.”

Liuer climbs into the car seat. He buckles his seatbelt while Longma gets in the driver’s seat. As they pull out of the driveway and onto the street, the monkey asks, “Why’d you decide to take me with you today?”

“Well, you’ve been a bit distant. And I figured if I was gonna take anyone, it’d be you.”

Liuer takes off his earmuffs listens carefully. Is that a hint of nervousness in his tone? And he’s certain he can hear the dragon’s heart pounding. Is Longma….blushing??? Oh,  _ Ooooooh! _ The monkey’s face burns, and his voice cracks as he stutters, “Is...is this a  _ date? _ ”

“It  _ could _ be,” Longma answers. “If it’s not weird for you. I don’t know if you’re alright with being a part of this fluid chain polycule thing.”

“But….Me?” Liuer points at himself. “I’m not really….how am  _ I _ likable?”

Longma sighs. “I’m not good at this word stuff. It’s just- look, you’re really, _really,_ ** _really_** cute. Give me some time, I might say it better than that.” The car stops, and Liuer realizes they’re in the mall parking lot. There aren’t nearly as many cars there as the last time he was here. “This was a bad idea wasn’t it?”

The monkey stares down at his fingers and twiddle his fingers. “I-I...I….” He gulps. “Hol-hold hands? Could we?” He’s just a blushing mess, isn’t he?

“Yeah!” The dragon unbuckles his seatbelt. “Let me just me walk around the car.” He stepped out of the car, and Liuer waited as Longma walked around the front of the car and opened the car door for him. “You’re not going to ask me to undo the seatbelt, too, are you?”

Blushing, the monkey fumbles with the buckle of the seatbelt. Longma chuckles fondly. “I can do it myself! I-” Just then, the buckle releases, and the belt retracts to the side. “Yeah! See?”

“Good job.” Longma has this smile on his face and a hint of a laugh in his voice. He holds out his hand towards the monkey. “Let’s go. One of the stores has stuff I think you might like.” Liuer gladly takes that hand and walks with him into the mall.

The first store they go to is one called “Bath and Body Works.” The moment they step in, Liuer’s nose is filled with so many scent that somehow blend together well enough for it not to be a problem. “This is all soaps? And perfumes?” Liuer asks, taking in a deep sniff. “Things that makes other things smell good?”

“That’s the gist of it.” Longma one of the summer themed shower gels in the center display. “The summer scents are supposed to be ocean, beach, jungle island type smells. I was wondering if any of them actually smelled like the real thing.”

Skeptical, Liuer picks up a bottle of blue stuff with a palm tree on it. “How would they get it to smell right?”

“Perfume stuff has advance, you know.” The dragon holds a different, open bottle up to the monkey’s nose. “What do you think of this one? It’s supposed to smell like the beach, I think.”

Liuer sniffs at almost faint scent. He knows that’s not what sea water smells like, but he’s unsure about the beach specifically. It could be a beach by a lake for all he knows. “Is this what the beach really smells like?”

“I’m not sure.” Longma brings the bottle back to his own nose. “But I think I like it. I might get this one. You see anything that catches your eye?”

“Uh…” Liuer looks around. It doesn’t help that he hasn’t completely figured out reading yet. He notices some bottles that seem to have a darker, less vibrant color scheme that the rest of the store. Liuer points with the hand not holding onto Longma’s “What about those?”

Longma follows his finger to see where he’s pointing. “Those are the men’s head and shoulders stuff.”

Liuer gives him a confused look. “They can make it only work for men?”

Longma loud laugh tells him no, no it doesn’t just work for men. “They just think men prefer this to the rest of the stuff here. It’s stupid, really.” The dragon inspects one blue-colored “men’s” bottle. “Although, you might actually like this. You’re supposed to use it on both your body  _ and _ hair.”

They end up buying a few more body washes, some hand soap, and body spray. The next store Longma takes him to is a clothing store. Apparently, it has sales all the time. Some of the clothes look pretty comfy. Liuer’s problem lies in the length of the sleeves. “Liuer, you have to try it on to know if it fits,” Longma coaxes, “and you’re visibly  _ sweating _ in that hoodie.”

That’s true. It’s just so  _ hot _ . He might need a nice cold shower after this. “The sleeves are too short. I...I can’t….” he  _ can’t _ tell Longma. Not here. Not now. Not ever.

“Do...do you need some water? You’re kinda….”

He hears it. He swears he hears it. That voice. That cold and uncaring Master’s voice. Coming from somewhere in the mall, in this  _ store. _ That voice saying,  _ “Just what do you think you’re doing?” _ And that’s when everything falls apart. Liuer is suddenly on the ground, covering his ears, because  _ he can’t be here he can’t be here no no no no. _

He’s making a scene. Longma is worried. The dragon is sitting down on the floor next to him trying to calm him down it whatever way might help. He- “Why this weakness? You force me to clean up your mess again.” NO NO NO NO NO

Liuer doesn’t remember how or when he and Longma got to the back of the store, but that’s where they are when the monkey abruptly realizes he hasn’t been paying attention to his surroundings. In a panic, he listened for how many people were in the room, how many exits there are, what escape plans could work. It’s a small room, with just one door, and the only other people in the room are Longma and a store employee.

Longma has some sort of cold drink with a straw that he’s trying to give to Liuer. “Come on, it has peach in it,” he says quietly in Cantonese, “I know you still like peach. Just a sip.  _ Please. _ ” His tone is full of concern. To put that concern at ease, the monkey takes the straw in his mouth and takes a big sip. It’s cold, sweet, and really does taste like peaches.

The employee asks, “Is he gonna be okay now?”

“Yeah, we just have to get him home.” Longma holds the cup for Liuer. He carries the monkey out of the mall. He even helps him into the car and buckles the seat belt for him. They’re already part way home before Liuer gets the nerves to say anything.

“Sorry.”

“You really don’t need to apologize. You’re just  _ really _ attached to that hoodie, I guess.”

“‘M sorry.” Liuer grips onto his arm. His cuts sting, and he wonders if he’ll end up with blood inside the sleeve. “Sorry.”

“You…. It’s really fine. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“But I did. I…” No. Not now. Not here. Later. Or maybe it would be better to tell Wukong about it first. Liuer will have to wait just over a week, but that’s fine. Yeah. “I ruined the date.”

“As far as first dates go, that wasn’t too bad.” Longma takes one hand off the wheel and reaches it out towards the monkey. He’s offering it, in case Liuer wants to hold it again in some sort of comfort. Eagerly, the monkey takes hold of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments give me life


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this coming story arc is pretty important to me. I'm using this to kinda vent about something that happened to me and my feelings on it. Of course there are a few differences, but the feeling in the end will be pretty much the same. I wanted to explain this at the start because I am just a bit nervous about how people will react to this.

When Wukong was on Flower Fruit Mountain, he wasn’t the only man with his kind of body. Thus, he never thought of pregnancy and childbirth as exclusively a woman’s thing. Another thing, Wukong was great with children. Even when a child along the journey was first terrified of the monkey’s appearance, it wouldn’t be long before the child was laughing and climbing all over him. All off these facts brought a question to Sanzang’s mind: Why had Wukong never had children of his own?

They know that the other monkeys on the mountain were considered family to Wukong. The monkey even sometimes referred to some as his children but, as he said himself, “They weren’t  _ literally  _ my children. They had parents.” Still, they were the only family Wukong ever talked about having. Maybe Sanzang was too curious, but they still had the feeling that maybe there was another part to this story.

There was one thing he said that really concerned the monk. Rather, they felt concerned when they thought about it later. At the time, Sanzang was too busy freaking out about the pregnancy water fiasco. Wukong was teasing the monk and pig, probably finding the whole situation hilarious. “Who knows!” he laughed. “A baby pig and a baby monk might make the journey interesting!”

(In my defense, it  _ was _ hilarious, and the journey  _ definitely _ would have been more interesting.)

(I  _ really _ don’t want to think about what would have happened if we  _ actually had to give birth. _ )

Sanzang was too busy panicking from the thought to comment. Bajie, enraged, yelled out at the monkey, “If you like the idea so much, why don’t you drink the water yourself!?!”

Wukong loud laughter faded into a wistful chuckle. He mumbled, “Could that actually work?” The monkey shook his head. “I don’t think even magic water could make that work for me.”

Sanzang didn’t immediately say anything about the comment. They couldn’t exactly say anything during or right after Women’s Country, either. In fact, they didn’t say anything until they arrived in India. “What had you meant you said that?” The monk asked. At Wukong’s confused expression, they elaborated. “Some ways back, you said you didn’t think even the pregnancy spring would work on you? But there was this way you worded it, I was wondering…Sorry. I must be an odd thing to bring up.”

“No, you’re fine. That was just-” Wukong grew bashful, blushing and scratching the back of his head. “So, when I was younger and stupider….I kept hearing these parents talking about kids being great….” the monkey laughed lightly and turned his face away. “I was pretty stupid….thought a baby would be an  _ amazing _ idea. Heh, guess it’s a good thing that never really worked out.”

Sanzang took in the words, trying to connect them properly in their brain. “You never managed to….”

“It never lasted, no.” Wukong sighed. “It feels weird to talk about it like this.”

“Sorry.”

“No, you’re fine. I was just pretty stupid back then.”

“Did you...ever wish it  _ did _ work?” As soon they said that, they regretted it. Surely, that was too much to ask. They messed up. Oh, they messed up. “Sorry! I shouldn’t have asked! I-”

Wukong laughed. He gently took hold of the monk’s hand. “Not sure how good a father I would have been back then, but if it had worked, I’m not sure if I would be here,” he said softly. The monkey leaned into their ear and whispered, “I like being here. With you.”

Sanzang’s face flushed and shiver went down their spine. “I… I believe you could be a wonderful father.”

(I still think you would.)

(Wujing might have a point. You’re just too sweet.)

Wukong hummed lowly. He wrapped an arm around the monk’s waist and pulled them closer. “Maybe someday,” he whispered, “but maybe we could get a kid a different way. You two were whining and moaning in pain so much, I don’t think I’m interested in experiencing that.” The monkey nuzzled his face in the crook of Sanzang’s neck. The monk themself found themself caught up on that one word.

“We?” ‘We’ as in both of them. As in the two of them being parents. At the same time. Together. They felt a smile just barely start to spread on their face and a blush spread on their cheeks.

“Well, I just figured…” Wukong faultered. “I’m sorry. I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I?” The monkey started to pull away slightly, but Sanzang held on to him. They didn’t hold on too tightly for him to be trapped, be gently enough so that he at least understood they didn’t mind him staying so close.

“Someday,” the monk says. “I don’t know if we’d ever be able to take care of a child like that, but… it’s nice to think about maybe someday.”

“Yeah…. Yeah, it is.” Wukong placed a kiss on Sanzang’s cheek.

(Hey, I think that’s the first time I thought about marrying you.)

(Really? I thought of it thought far back?)

(Yeah! I was already thinking of having a family with you. Marrying you was just this logical step in that)

Sanzang kissed the top of Wukong’s forehead. “I love you.”

The monkey smiled brightly. “I love you, too.”

The couple closed the distance between them with a sweet, tender kiss, full of promises of a someday.


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Realizations and deals

Towards the end of their honeymoon, Wukong’s body starts to feel… weird. That itself was weird, since he can’t get sick. At least, he can’t get sick that he knows of. If it turns out that the monkey could get sick, then it’d be a surprise that he only catches something now. Still, there’s something about this strangeness that feels….familiar. But that’s impossible, right?

Okay, maybe it’ not impossible, but how would he know? It’s been two thousand years since the last time he was….No no no. It’s fine. This is just paranoia or something. No, not hopeful thinking. This wouldn’t be good timing for that kind of stuff. Wait, Wukong’s getting too wrapped up thinking about this. If he’s going to worry, he can worry all he wants when they get back home. Right now, the monkey should enjoy his honeymoon.

Currently, Wukong is relaxing with Sanzang on the couch. His spouse silently reads a book they have while he burrows his head into their chest. The monkey could very easily fall asleep to the sound of their heartbeat. Idly, The monk runs fingers through his hair. “You seem pretty tired today,” they note. “And yesterday, too.”

Wukong murmurs and twists his head up to face towards Sanzang. “I get the sense you’re worried just a bit.” He plants a kiss right under their chin. “You really don’t need to be. We have a few days until we go home. Let’s not worry about anything until then.”

“Is it something we  _ should _ worry about?”

Wukong shifts and reaches up to kiss their cheek. “It’s fine.” That may actually be only half true, as he himself isn’t entirely sure everything really is fine. He has this voice in the back of his head telling him that everything is  _ not _ fine, and the rest of him saying that doesn’t make sense. Wukong rests his head on Sanzang’s shoulder. “This is just really cozy.”

“Well, is there anything else you’d like to do today?” Sanzang asks. “Swimming? A walk?”

Wukong hums in thought. “I think I have a bit of an idea, but could we kiss for a bit first? If that’s okay?”

Sanzang considers this. “Could I finish this part of my book first?”

“Of course! Don’t stop for my sake!” The monkey gets comfy again, resting his head on his spouse’s shoulder, angling his face so he doesn’t distract by breathing on their neck. He tries to keep himself awake by reading along with Sanzang. Although, everything is just so warm and cozy, he ends up dozing off anyway.

The day they’re supposed to leave, the two spend the morning cleaning  _ everything. _ They make sure all of their things are neatly packed, clean every dish they used, even dust and mop the floors. The only things they don’t put away immediatly are the things they use for lunch. When Longma shows up to bring them home, the newlyweds leave the cabin in better condition than they found it in.

As much as he’s going to miss vacationing with just his spouse, Wukong has to admit it, he missed his brothers and honorary sibling. A meal with all of them is definitely more loud and lively than a meal with just the two of them. The bickering and fighting over food is just so familiar. Even Liuer is engaged in conversation.

A week or so later, the other monkey even asks to talk alone with Wukong. He got the sense Liuer had something important to talk about, but didn’t want a big deal of it. He knew how to handle that. The pair of brothers lounge on a spot on the roof, sharing cans of fizzy sodas. It brings to mind memories of summer evenings spent lounging in high tree sharing fruit.

w“Hey, you remember that time we stole all of that one general’s peaches?” Wukong recalls fondly.

“For one thing, they were  _ melons _ ,” Liuer says, taking a sip from his soda. “And secondly,  _ you _ stole them. I just helped you run off and hide.”

Wukong laughs. “You carried at least half of them, so you helped steal them!”

Liuer snorts and coughs up his soda. “Oh gosh. I--” He coughs and laughs. “I just remembered-- oh gosh.”

“Don’t choke, now.” Wukong pats him hard on the back. “Didn’t think you’d find remembering so hilarious.”

“I just-” Liuer coughed a final time. “It’s been forever since I looked back on that stuff happily.”

“Is… that what you wanted to talk about?” Might as well not beat around the bush. “You seemed pretty serious when you asked to talk.”

“I was…” Liuer seems to carefully consider his words. He sighs. “I… I’m not good with words like you are. There’s a _ lot _ of stuff I should talk about.”

“Then just break it down into smaller pieces,” Wukong advises. He swings his head back and downs the last of his soda. Liuer still seems at a loss for words, so Wukong asks, “What’s the most important thing I should know?”

“Last week I thought I heard…” The monkey trails off. He curls in on himself slightly and grips tightly onto his left forearm. “I was stuck with this… bad person... while you were under that mountain. I thought I heard them when I was out with Longma.”

Wukong sits up straighter, more serious. He has a lot of questions bouncing around in his mind at the moment. “...How  _ bad? _ ” he asks his brother softly and as calmly as he can muster.

“I… How do you define bad? It’s-” Liuer’s breath catches in his throat. Wukong waits for him to collect himself and maybe continue. When the silence goes on, he figures that maybe his brother’s question was litteral.

“What did they say?” Wukong asks, “What did you hear when you were out?”

Liuer tenses up. One of his ears twitches and his eyes widen. “I shouldn’t have said anything.” He scrambles to get up. ”You have enough to worry about!”

“No! You can talk about it!” Wukong grabs onto the other’s forearm, and Liuer flinches. Both of them freeze on the spot. He… he remembers a time when Six-Eared flinch when anyone so much as touched his arm. He remembers as a young teen walking in on… “Are you…”

“Are you gonna judge?” Liuer jerks his arm out of Wukong’s grip. “Aren’t we  _ both _ doing the stupid shit we did as teens?”

The Monkey King is taken aback. “What do you mean? What are you talking about?” Either this means he can hear hushed voices from a soundproofed room two floors below theirs, or….

“You were just… you really wanted to have a kid. Couldn’t even wait, like, 2, 4 years until your twenties.” Liuer stops. One of his ears twitches again, and his expression softens. “You… you don’t really  _ know _ do you?”

“I thought there was something,” Wukongs sighs and brings a knee closer to his chest. He feels a bit like he's going to cry, but doesn't fully understand  _ why. _ “ _ fuck. _ ”

Liuer sits down again beside his brother. “What are you going to do?”

“Wait it out. See if it's any different from the last however many times.” Wukong sighs and rubs a hand down his face. He lets out a single bitter laugh. “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, you know?”

Liuer gives him a long hard stare. “You don't even know which is which.”

Wukong gives him and equally hard stare. “Show me your arm.”

“What if I say no and instead ask for some actual good bandages? Bandaids aren't that good.”

“Add on telling the others and a promise never to do it again.”

Liuer chews on his cheek as he considers the offer. “If I'm telling, you’re telling,” he proposes. “I end up telling anyone, or some finds out another way, you tell someone exactly what it is you're ‘waiting out.’”

“That works both ways, and if everyone finds out one, everyone has to know the other.” Wukong holds out his hand for the other to shake. “Also, I'm getting any sharp objects out of your room and the bathroom.”

“Yeah, that's fair.” Liuer shakes his hand. The deal is sealed. “I said it once back then, and I'll say it again now: This isn't going to end well.”


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: there is some abuse towards the end.

There were quite a few monkeys just a couple years older than the brothers. A lot of them were parents already. “It was just so wonderful!” a new mother swooned. “Bringing a new life into the world like that.”

“But it hurts, doesn’t it?” Wukong asked, “I heard it hurts worse than  _ anything! _ ”

“Oh, but it’s soooo  _ worth it, _ ” another mother sighed, “and that just makes it all feel more meaningful!”

“What if people thinks I'm not  _ manly _ ?” Wukong worried, “What if I don't  _ feel _ manly?”

“Nonsense!” one father said. He was one of two other monkeys with Wukong's body type. “In fact, it made me feel  _ more  _ manly!”

With all of these questions, Six-Eared knew what Wukong was thinking.  “I want one!” Aaaaand there it was. “Hey, aren't you listening?” The young king poked his brother hard in the shoulder. “I want a baby!”

“What do you expect me to do?” Six roughly shoved the king away from him. “I'm not helping you  _ make _ one!”

Wukong made a sour face. “ _ EW!  _ Not with  _ you! _ ” He flopped himself down on the ground next to Six. “I just want to know… Is it okay?”

He stared blankly at Wukong. “You’re asking  _ me _ for permission?”

“I mean, aside from me, you're the smartest monkey here.” Six scoffed and Wukong elbowed him in the side to silence him. “ _ And _ you're my closest family right now. I want your opinion.”

_ As if you'd actually listen to what I have to say. _ “Nothing's stopped you from getting what you want so far.” Six got up from the dirt and began to walk towards a grouping of trees. “What's to stop you now?” With that, he dashed off.

“Closest family?”  _ Psh! _ He was pretty ready to change that fact, wasn't he? A baby. Those require so move  _ attention _ and  _ work _ . Not to mention one had to be careful and laid back before the birth. Otherwise, there was risk of losing it before it was even bor-

Six could hear it. It’s there be not there. Close but so far away. Something he called an Echo. Crying. Someone crying. Baby? No. No baby. Who’s mentioning a baby? What happened? Is… Isn’t that Wukong’s voice? What- There’s too much noise. He doesn’t know. He--

Six-Eared stumbled back and hit something. He brought his forearm up and bit down _hard._ _Focus! Who’s the one crying?_ Wukong. It was definitely Wukong’s voice crying. _What’s he saying?_ Six strained his ears to make out the exact words. _“Why does it hurt so much? Why is the so much blood?” What is going ON?”_

He bit down even harder on his arm. Six could taste his blood start to fill his mouth.  _ You know. You know. You KNOW! “I thought… I thought I could have a kid. I just wanted--” _ Oh  _ shit. _ Wukong wasn’t going to have that kid he wanted, was he? Six-Eared slid down the tree he was leaning against and sat down on the ground.

“This isn't going to end well.” And it didn't. It never did. It ended with Wukong bleeding and curled in pain. The king looked so pathetic and pitiful. Seeing him like that made Six remember. This was his _ brother. _

“Why do you keep doing this to yourself?” Six asked after the nth time this happened. “At this point, all you're doing is  _ hurting yourself!” _ Not like he could say anything about that without being hypocritical. Taking care of his brother like this was going to get him in  **big** trouble with Master.

Wukong didn't give any answer. He only let out a small, pitiful moan. Their friend Bull King, also there to offer any help he can for the young Monkey King, rested a hand on Six's shoulder. “You go. I can look after him for a while.”

“I don't want to.”  _ The sooner I leave, the sooner Master punishes me. _

“I can take care of him fine. Go relax for a bit.” Before he could protest again, he was ushered out and away by large hands. Not long after he's stepped foot outside, Six-Eared tenses up. Master was coming. If he didn't want everyone to know about Master, he'd better get out of sight.

Six sighed, kicking up some dirt in the clearing. “Why are you upset over this?” He jumped.  _ Master. _ “He’s  _ finally _ being denied the thing he wants!” The antlered man stood proud and intimidating.

Six-Eared took a few terrified steps back. “Did… did  _ you _ do this?”

Master's hands glowed with magic energy. “You know better than to accuse me of such things,  _ child. _ ”

There's pain. Six-Eared gritted his teeth to keep from screaming. Master's magic dragged him closer, where the monkey collapsed to the ground. With the position he fell into, it looked like he was kowtowing to the Master. “It's my fault…” he sobbed into the dirt. “If I hadn't complained-”

“Are you blaming  _ yourself?”  _

Power and electricity surged through Six's body. He almost cried out in pain, but clenched teeth turned it into more of a groan. He choked on a sob. “I'm sorry! Please stop it! I'm  _ sorry!” _

“ _ Apologizing? _ ” Master kicked him in the side. “You've done  _ nothing!  _ How useless of you to do nothing!” Another kick in the side.  _ Just suck it up and deal with it. _

Distantly, he could hear Wukong's conversation with Bull King, the memory of which would be shocked and beat to the deepest corners of his mind. “Me and Six are the only family we have left. I thought maybe if there was one more, we wouldn't be lonely if one of us had to leave for a long time. He always looks so lonely.”


	38. Chapter 38

The master bedroom was empty. Or rather, the master bedroom was never used as a bedroom, and hardly used for anything at all. Wukong and Sanzang had decided the room was too big for them, and none of the others seemed to take the chance to claim the room for themselves. At most, the master bathroom was used if all other bathrooms were occupied. Because of this, it's odd that Wukong dashes off to lock himself that specific bathroom.

Something's wrong. Sanzang just knows it. They knock on the door. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah!” His voice cracks, giving away the fact the Wukong was  _ not _ okay. Something is going on with their husband, but Sanzang just isn't sure what. The monkey keeps himself in that bathroom for almost an hour.

“You can't just hog the bathroom all day!” Bajie tries yelling at the bathroom door. “Frankly, it’s kinda rude!”

“In a bit! Just- Just a few more minutes!” It sounds like he turns on the shower in there. An hour, and Wukong just now decides on a shower?

“Well, I'm out of ideas.” Bajie turns to the others gathered in the master bedroom. “Anymore ideas?” It seems the pig relied on teasing

“What if we're just overreacting?” Longma suggests. “Couldn't it just be his period came early or something?” Sanzang considered the idea. Maybe?

“He doesn't hide from everyone, remember?” Wujing states. True. Wukong would always seek out some sort of physical affection, whether Sanzang ran fingers through his hair or the two snuggled close together on the couch. “And why would he wait an  _ hour _ to start cleaning up his clothes?”

“Cramps? Don't those get bad enough to immobilize him?”

What a minute, something just occurred to Sanzang. A realization that leaves them feeling chilled. “He… he hasn’t had it in a while.” The last time Wukong had his period was before the wedding… before the honeymoon.  _ What had they done? What a terrible spouse they were! _

“What a minute, did you guys  _ actually _ fu-” Bajie is cut off by Longma smacking the back of his head.

“You don’t just ask personal things like that!” they scold.

Bajie rubs the back of his head with a painful grimace. “Well, it seems pretty important to what’s going on!”

“You don’t know that for sure!”

“Can you guys not yell at each other?” It’s the first Liuer has spoken since they all entered the room. He was so quiet, Sanzang had actually forgotten he was there at all. “You talk like Wukong can’t possible hear you through that door!”

The others hung their heads in shame, all of them except for Longma. “What’s with that bandage on your wrist?”

“I’ll talk all about that later.” Liuer stands up and tugs on his sleeve, hiding the visibly bandaged wrist. “By the way, none of you have bothered to try the door. It’s actually unlocked.”

“We can’t just barge in!” Bajie yells. “I mean, should we?”

Suddenly, a crash comes from the bathroom, followed by a frustrated groan and curses. It fades out into some sort of angry sobbing. Before anyone else move or say anything, Sanzang runs to the door. As Liuer had said, the door is unlocked. The monk only opens it a crack. “Wukong?” they call into the bathroom, “Is everything okay in here?”

“I- It’s-” Wukong sniffles. “Sorry to worry you guys.”

“I’m coming in, okay?”

“Just… could you close the door behind you?”

Quickly, Sanzang slips into the bathroom and gently shuts the door. The room looks a mess. Bottles of shampoo and body wash are scattered on the floor. Wukong is in the bathtub, half hanging out the side. He clings to soaked, mildly stained pants while the shower head continues to soak the monkey. “Hey,” he says weakly.

“Hey.” Sanzang approaches the bathtub and crouches down in front of their husband. “How are you feeling?” It’s an unnecessary question. The answer is clear enough as it is.

“I… not good.” Wukong tries rubbing tears away with his arm. “I should have said something. I didn’t think it’d matter if this was probably gonna happen.”

Sanzang gently cups his face. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” Wukong lifts his head up and presses his forehead against his spouse’s. “It’s not your fault.”

“It’s at least partially my fault, isn’t it?” The monk runs their hand through the monkey’s hair. “You wouldn’t be here like this if we hadn’t…”

Wukong laughs dryly. “I was the one who told you it was fine.  _ Five times _ I think it was.” He kisses their cheek. “I don't regret doing that with you. And I don't blame you.” Wukong’s face scrunches up slightly and lets out a small whine.

“You’re in pain! I shouldn’t… We could have…” Sanzang has trouble forming full sentences. Wukong wraps one arm around their waist and tries to pull them just a bit closer.

“We don’t need  _ both of us _ emotionally drained here. I thought about it a lot, you know. If it worked out this time,” Wukong admits. “I started to think it would, but I couldn’t decide if that was bad or good. I… I don’t think I’d be able to handle it. But…” He sighs and rests his head on the monk's shoulder.

“Would…. would a warm bath help you?” Sanzang asks. “I could go grab you a clean set of clothes and anything else you need.”

“I'd like to be held just a bit longer.” Wukong nuzzles into his spouse's neck. “I really mean it when I say I don't regret making love with you. I'd do it again, too. Just…”

“We're not letting this happen again.”

“Yeah.”

About an hour later, Wukong’s had a warm bath and lies on the couch while Sanzang untangles his hair. Apparently, Liuer already knew about this, and the two monkeys made some sort of deal to keep both of their secrets. “Both” as in Six had his own secret that he had to share now. “Not to purposely add on to today’s shittiness,” he began, “but I’m pretty sure this might be something people go to therapy for?”

“Then we can get you therapy!” Longma exclaims. “What is with you two and keeping secrets like this?”

“To be far, I probably spent too long with someone who’d punish me for this kind of stuff,” Liuer admits.

“Okay, you guys are just a  _ mess, _ ” Bajie says. “Like do you mean with some as in  _ romantic relationship _ or just literally  _ with someone? _ ”

“Definitely literal. I think he was more of a shitty terrible dad? It's probably his fault I have some of these issues.”

Wujing pulls out his phone. “Okay, I’m going to start looking up good therapists or the like. I'll put their number on the fridge for anyone who needs it.”

Sanzang looks down at Wukong who has his head resting on the monk's chest. “Will you be okay?” they ask softly.

The monkey hums. “I will be, yeah.”


	39. Chapter 39

Wukong has been moping around for  _ days _ . Seriously, What gives? Okay, Bajie knows the situation is pretty complicated for the monkey. Still though, if he wants to a dad so badly, he shouldn't just sulk around the house. Bajie’s gonna make sure he actually  _ does  _ something.

“You’re getting a dog.”

Wukong, who had just been sleeping with Sanzang on the couch moments before, rubs at his eyes. “Right now?”

“Yeah! I think a dog would be  _ perfect  _ for you two!”

The monkey blinks sleepily. “I don't know…” He yawns.

“Were you thinking of going to a pet store?” Sanzang asks.

“Actually, there's this animal shelter not too far.”

Wukong stretches his arms over his head. “Alright, alright. I get it. I’ve been lying around, and you think dogs will help.”

“I’m not hearing you say  _ noooo. _ ”

The monkey sits up fully and asks Sanzang, “You don’t mind coming with, do you?”

“Not at all!”

And so, Bajie drags the couple off to the pet store. There’s a reason that he chose this particular day to go to the shelter. The local animal shelter had about a month ago gained a large amount of puppies. It seems at least three different dogs there had given birth within the same week. Today, most of the puppies were old enough to be adopted. Hopefully, one of the pups would be going home with them.

“Bajie,” Wukong nudges the pig. “Did I  _ ever _ seem that much of a dog person?”

“Well, I didn’t think you’d like the  _ big _ dogs.” Baije watches him flinch as one of the big dogs barks loud and deep from nearby. “But the small ones should be more manageable for you, right?”

“I mean, maybe?” Wukong scratches the back of his neck. “Wait, where’d Sanzang go?”

“Off to check out some of the puppies, I think.” The pig looks around briefly for the monk. He spots him over by a bunch of small puppies. He points and says, “Over there!”

Wukong whips his head around to see his spouse with puppies jumping all over them, puppies climbing over each other just to lick the monk’s face. The monkey looks on with such a loving expression on his face. Oh, they are  _ totally _ those lovey-dovey newlyweds. If Sanzang and those pups are cute enough, Wukong might just try to take  _ all _ of those small puppies home. He practically jumps right into that cluster of excited puppies.

“These are a pomeranian and jack russell terrier mix,” a shelter worker explains. “Spork’s and Meatball’s puppies.”

“Do they have names already?”

“Most of them do. There’s Meatball, Candlestick…”

Wukong picks up the smallest of the pups, previously occupied with playing tug-of-war with Sanzang’s shirt. As it’s picked up, it wiggles and tries to twist all around. It licks the monkey’s face and paws at his arms. “This one?”

“Oh, that’s Oswald Jackson III! Ozzy for short.”

“Such a big name for a tiny thing.” It’s evident that the pup in Wukong has more energy than it’s tiny body can hold. Sanzang scratches behind its ear. Ozzy tries to wiggle out Wukong’s arms and climb onto the monk’s. Of course, this is the dog Wukong decides he wants to take home.

Bajie pays the fee to adopt Ozzy. He also offers to pay for some of the stuff they find at the pet store. But definitely not all of it, since Wukong keeps trying to get fancy treats and dog clothes. Luckly, Sanzang is there to dissuade him from most of it. “But just  _ look _ at this!” The monkey holds up some sort of rainbow handkerchief with the words ‘I have two dads’ printed on it. “There’s that pride festival coming up, and he’d look so adorable in- wait, Sanzang, you don’t mind being called that, do you?”

“Wukong, we don’t really need it that much, do we?”

Wukong gives these big sad eyes. Sanzang tries to keep firm. Ozzy goes wild in the cart. “You know, there’s this plain rainbow one  _ without _ the words,” Bajie offers. That should be a good enough compromise for the two. Sanzang nods in approval, but Wukong doesn’t seem quite as convinced.

“This is just…  _ reeaally _ cute, though.”

“Wukong.”

“No. Yeah, this one’s probably too much. Actually looks a bit too big for him.” Wukong reaches into the cart to pet Ozzy. The pup tries to climb up his arm. “Pride is, what, next week? Week after?”

Bajie shrugs. “I think Longma would know. They were kinda looking forward to it.” As he recalls, the dragon was looking up pride flags and t-shirts. Bajie didn’t plan on going to Pride himself. After all, he wasn’t LGBTQ himself. The pig was  _ totally  _ straight.

“Okay, Bajie, I’d hate to break it to you  _ now,” _ Wujing says, tying an ace pride flag around his shoulders, “but I know for a fact you are not ‘totally straight.’”

“Dude, what makes you say that?”

“The large amount of guys I’ve seen you give bedroom eyes.” Oh, he  _ has _ done that, hasn’t he? This probably isn’t the time and place to be having this conversation. Bajie can feel his face flushing.

“I’m… straight with exceptions!” Bajie’s voice has just the hint of a stutter.

“Must be a lot of exceptions, then,” Wujing mutters.

“I don’t want to date dudes!”

“Sexuality and romantic attraction are two different things! Just-” The fish sighs. “I’m not saying you have to go, or that you have to date dudes. I’m just saying, I’ve seen you look at guys the same way I’ve seen you look at girls.” Wujing pats his shoulder as he goes to leave the room. “You’d probably know better than I do. It’s just something to think about.”

Think about it he does. Everyone else, even Liuer, went to Pride. The pig is left alone in the house, pacing around. Eventually, he comes to a realization. Bajie isn’t as straight as he thought he was.  _ Holy fucking shit. _


	40. Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit mature, but not quite explicit. Like, they do the diddle, guys.

Liuer often finds himself fascinated by the different concepts of sexuality. He remembers Master’s reaction when the young monkey confessed a crush on another boy. The man was against him having  _ any _ kind on intimate relationship. Although, Six-Eared is sure he can remember hearing the words “It had to be another male, didn’t it? You couldn’t even act like a normal creature  _ once _ .”

This “Pride” festival thing actually feels safe. Even with all these strange faces and sounds and crowds. He gets to hold Longma’s hand throughout this. Liuer just hopes his hand doesn’t get too sweaty. The dragon has been good to him, even bought him these rainbow fingerless glove things. They covered his whole forearms, thus Six-Eared was comfortable wearing those and a light sleeveless hoodie instead of a big hoodie.

The two of them had separated from the others. This was something like a forth, fifth date for them. At this point, they were  _ officially _ a relationship, right? Like, they’ve kissed more than once, definitely. Maybe it’s a good point to ask about…  _ that _ stuff.

He wants to ask about that foreign world of sex and pleasure and kinks. Today would be a good day to ask, given how safe Liuer finds himself feeling here. Although, it’s probably a good idea to wait until they are alone in a more private space. When they get home, then. For now, they go from booth to booth, collecting their fair share of freebies.

The two of them end up back at the car before the others. There is only so much of crowds and noise Liuer can take after all. Longma texts Wujing while the monkey sips on a small cup of alcohol he managed to get his hands on. “So, it looks like they’ll be a while still. I’m going to turn on the car so we don’t overheat.”

“Sounds good.” Liuer downs the last half of his drink, barely a mouthful. “What… what’s sex like?” Wow.  _ Smooth. _

Longma just stares at him with a flushed face. They had  _ just _ put the car in the ignition. Liuer feels like his face is on  _ fire _ . The dragon turns the key. The car fills the awkward silence by roaring to life. “Are you… is… is this your way of asking for sex?”

“I… uh… I mean…” Did it just get really hot in there all of a sudden? “I don’t… really… know anything about that stuff, you know? Not that I wasn’t going to ask for it later!” Oh, this is a disaster. “Sorry!”

“You’re fine. It’s fine. Just…” Longma reaches over a hand and brushes their fingers along Liuer’s jaw and the side of his neck. A shiver travels down his spine. They both slowly lean closer to each other. From just an inch or two away, Longma asks, “Do you want to?”

Liuer answers quickly, needy, “ _ Yes. _ ” In a instant, the distance between their lips closes into a deep, passionate kiss. Longma puts a hand in the small of his back, the other behind his head. The monkey isn’t sure what to do with his own hands. In their hair, on their back, at their waist. He’s not sure where to keep them.

In the back of his mind, Liuer wonders if this is even a good place to be doing this. The car is in the upper levels of a parking garage, the front of it facing away from where people would be walking by. So the only people that would find them like this would be the others if they came back too soon or the people from the cars next to theirs.Then there’s the question of if the car has space for… whatever happens that makes this work.

Right now, the two of them are kissing so intensely. Liuer tries to pull Longma closer, but the center console. He’s half tempted to climb right over it and share the dragon’s seat. Before he can do anything, though, Longma pulls away an inch or two. “Wherever you got that drink from, I’m pretty sure that was just half decent beer.”

“S-sorry.” Liuer’s denim shorts are starting to feel strangely uncomfortable. “I’ve never, um…”

“You’ve…  _ really _ never done something like this before, huh?”

“No, I…” He squirms a bit in his seat. “What… um… could we…”

Longma comes in real close to the monkey’s ear, moving that half of his head phones out of the way. He can feel their breath blow on it. “Do you really want to have your first time in a car like this?”

“I… would it be bad?”

“It would be  _ difficult. _ We don’t have the space to try a lot of things.” Longma sighs and buries their face into Liuer’s shoulder. “If I’m going to be your first, I want this to be memorable for both of us.”

The monkey swallows nervously. “I- if we wait to- back home we- Could we  **not** stay human?” His heart pounds in his chest as he asks this. Surely, it’s a strange thing to request. “I… it’s alway how I’ve imagined us…  _ doing it _ .”

“That’s alright. I actually haven’t been out of human form in a while. Can you handle waiting?”

“Yeah.” Liuer takes in a deep breath, then lets it out as slowly as he can manage. “Yes, I can wait.”

“Okay.” Longma’s phone dings. A text. Sadly, the two of them need to pull away so the dragon can check it. Liuer straightens out his headphones again and tries to relax back in his seat. “They’ve entered the garage.”

“Guess there really wouldn’t have been time for anything, huh?”

Longma laughs. “Are you  _ pouting? _ ”

“N-no.” Liuer feels his face, as he’s actually not sure. Oh, he really  _ is _ pouting.  _ He can wait. He can wait! _ The monkey buckles his seatbelt and brings his feet up on the seat. Maybe if he curls up, he can hide just how  _ stiff _ he is.

“It’s actually kinda cute.”

_ THAT’S NOT HELPING! _

Of course, at that moment, the car door opens. “We’re not interrupting anything, are we?” That fish  **knows** _. Just stay curled up it’s fine! _

“Just us about to leave without you guys,” Longma says while buckling their seatbelt. 

Liuer doesn’t fully pay attention to what’s going on. All he focuses on is staying calm and not being obvious. It’s just a five minute drive back to the house. A short walk to either of their rooms. He can wait it out. Just-

Someone pokes him in the shoulder. “Hey, are doing okay?”

“Mmhm!” Six-Eared knows his voice would be high and cracking if he actually spoke words. He tries to look away from Wukong’s skeptical stare. Gods, his face is too warm right now.

“Ooohh, I see what it is.”

_ END HIM NOW. _

“Are you gonna tease him, or get out of the car. Because we’re back now.”  _ THANK THE GODS _ .

Liuer waits until the others leave the car before he even  _ dares _ try to move. He waits long enough that Longma comes around to open the car door for him. “I’m not gonna have to carry you, am I?”

He shakes his head and climbs out of the car. “Do we, um, should…” He shifts his weight awkwardly. Longma takes up his hand in their own.

“How about we go to your room, okay?”

“Ye-yeah.” It’s just a short walk to his room. A closed door, and it’s almost like the rest of the house isn’t there anymore. “So, how do we, um…” Liuer’s heart is pounding in his chest.

Longma puts one hand at their waist and the other at the back of his head. “If you want, you can change out of human form.” They pull Liuer in closer. “Do what you need to get comfortable.”

He takes in a deep breath, then slowly lets it out as he shifts into his more fuzzy form. The monkey’s headphones feel somewhat awkward over his full six ears. He tugs them off one hand, and wraps his arms around Longma’s neck. Liuer feels their skin become covered in smooth scales. He hums as he pulls the dragon closer.

They come together in an intense, wet kiss. They stumble back to the bed and the monkey sits down on the edge of it. Longma pulls away, drawing a whine out of Liuer. “I have to ask stuff, you know. To make sure I’m doing stuff you like.” They play with the elastic on one of his fingerless gloves. “Do you want to take these off, or do you need to keep them on?”

“I…” He thinks of how his fur doesn’t completely cover the scars there. How the fur doesn’t grow quite right in a place or two. “Could… do we have to start with that?”

“That’s fine.” Longma crouches down on the floor in front of him. Liuer tries not to think about where their face is. They put a hand at the waistband of his shorts. “You want to start with this, right?” He swears he feels himself twitch beneath the shorts. Oh gods, the monkey forgets how to make words for a moment. “Do you need a minute?”

“No, I- Just-  _ Yes, please! _ ” The words come out so desperate, so  _ needy. _ He's about to apologize for the neediness when Longma nuzzles their face into his stomach. Just a few movements, and the shorts are undone and easily slipped off. Just a bit of shifting, and they're both completely on the bed.

It's pleasant. Warm. So many sensations that are new to him. Liuer never would have expected to be comfortable with having his arms bare, or having his shirt off. There's something freeing about letting someone just explore his body, and exploring that person’s body in turn.

“Wow.” It's the only word he can think to say. The monkey just lies breathless in this blissful afterglow. Longma lies next to him, holding onto his hand. Liuer doesn’t even mind them examining the very visible scar on their wrist. “That was amazing.”

“If you ever want to again,” The dragon plants a kiss on his wrist. “Just ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was almost way longer than it needed to be. Would have had it be just a side thing, but turns out the story flowed a bit better this way.


	41. Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kids these days

In the modern world, demons aren’t nearly as big of a threat. Most of them were just trying to live normal lives in the human world. The only demons to look out for were the troublemaking teens. Most of them were part human, and they seem to think they can take on anything and anyone. A gang of them have taken to pranking their house.

None of the pranks have caused any permanent damage. Toilet paper thrown around to hang all over that outside of the house. Silly string just  _ everywhere.  _ Heck, Wukong has had to clean egg and rotten produce up off the front door at least five times this week. They aren’t harming anyone, but this is seriously starting to get annoying. Maybe he should try to track down their parents? Have a chat with them?

This morning is the last straw. First, the spray paint. Different colors with no clear pattern all over the front steps. Wukong doesn’t even know where to  _ begin _ cleaning this up. Second, there’s a demon teen rummaging through their mailbox right at this very moment. “Hey!”

Startled, the teen scrambles to grab their mail then sprints off down the street. Wukong lets out a long, aggravated sigh. “I’m have to go get the mail back!” He calls into the house. “I’ll call when I’m on my way back!” The monkey mounts his cloud and casts a spell to keep himself hidden from sight. Quickly, he catches up to the teen.

Wukong knows better than to just pop out and confront the teen out in the open like this. That runs too high a risk of normal humans spotting something they’re not supposed to. No, what he’s going to do is follow this teen to the rest of his buddies, then he’ll convince them all to leave them alone. The odds turn out to be in Wukong’s favor when the teen runs into an old and seemingly abandoned building.

Quietly, the monkey transforms into a fly and slips in through one of the windows. He doesn’t enter on the same floor as the teen, but there are enough voices coming from elsewhere. Wukong follows the voices, as it’s most likely the rest of that troublemaking teen gang. The talk back and forth to each other. “Guys, this is crazy!”

“Shut up! This will totally work!”

Wukong flies through hallways, down a set of stairs. He finds the gang of teens in a relatively large and open room. They are all gathered around something on the ground. “Is this really safe?”

“I do this with my baby sister all the time!”

“Reincarnated crown or not, is it really a good idea to tie a baby to a skateboard?”

The teen that stole their mail comes into the room and joins the rest. And that’s Wukong’s cue to show himself. He transforms into full monkey form and puts on a stern look. The teens scream and shriek. They crowd into a corner, cowering behind a skateboard with a tattered cloth bundle attached to it. “T… t-take…  **this** !” The skateboard is then pushed in Wukong’s direction. He half expected it not to be an actual baby like the teens were talking about before. It had to be a doll or something.

The skateboard slows to a stop at Wukong’s feet. Lo and behold, there is an actual living baby strapped to it by various belts. What. The. Actual. Fuck. This baby doesn’t have any demon energy that Wukong can see. Where did these teens get them from?  _ Who _ did these teens get them from?

Just then, the baby bursts into tears. Oh, no. If the teens’ plan was to distract the Monkey King with a helpless baby, then it was totally working. Good thing that wasn’t their plan, though. Wukong crouches down to get closer to the child. “Hey, hey,” He soothes softly. “No need to cry now. Old Sun is here to take care of you.” 

This little thing looked to be between one or two months old. Did these guys actually think it was a good idea to just tie them to a skateboard? Oh no, this kid isn’t spending another minute on that thing. The demon teens look horrified, as if this is a big dramatic turn of events. Wukong begins to untie the baby from the skateboard as the teens start talking amongst themselves. “I thought you said this was going to work!”

“I don’t know how it’s supposed to work in human form!”

“You numbskull!”

“Take that back!”

All that noise from fighting with each other is going to upset this baby. Wukong holds them in one arm and stands up. “Alright, you lot. Quit your fighting!” He summons his staff up in his free hand. “ _ Explain. _ ”

Again, the teens cower. A braver one in the front finds the nerves to speak. “N...N-no?”

“I  _ wasn’t _ asking.” He’s not going to actually hurt any of them. He wouldn’t even  _ think _ of it. But these kids don’t know that. Maybe it was a bit low to threaten teens like this. “First of all, where’s my mail?”

A scared teen throws a bunch of envelopes like a frisbee. Wukong manages to catch them all despite both hands already holding something. “Alright. Second question. Who’s baby is this?”

The teens stand in scared silence. Oh, they actually look like they’re about to burst into tears. One teen actually does, and they blurt out quickly, “The adults and everyone said it was that tightening crown thing reincarnated and dad was supposed to leave it on your doorstep or something but we thought we could somehow use it to fight you but it didn’t work and PLEASE DON’T TELL MOOOOM!” The crying teen gets elbowed roughly in the ribs by another teen next to him.

“Pull yourself together, man!”

Wukong takes in the information from the teen’s rambling. So, they were talking about Tightening Band. This small little baby is supposed to be the Tightening Band? Wukong turns calmly and walks away. “Just go home. Don’t steal anymore mail or deface anymore driveways.” The teens let out varying and overlapping words of confirmation behind him.

There’s someone who’s gotta have more answers. Guanyin was the one that gave the Tightening Band in the first place, and also the one to remove it. She’d be able to tell him what ever happened to the thing. In turn, that should help Wukong know for sure if this baby in his arms was a reincarnated Tightening Band. Or if they have parents they need to be returned to.

The baby falls right to sleep while Wukong fishes his phone out of his pocket. Guanyin still had that oldish cellphone as far as he knows. It might not pick up his call as quickly, but the monkey still dials her number. It rings once, twice, thrice, “Salutations.”

“Hey, it’s Wukong. I have a question or two about the Tightening Band.” He pauses a second to check that the baby is still contently sleeping. “Specifically, I’ve got a baby here that a few half-demon teens think is a reincarnated Tightening Band. Just wondering if there’s any truth to that, and/or if I should be finding this kid’s parents.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap this is almost done (as in I've almost made it to 50,000 words)


	42. Chapter 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember

Wukong has always been a physically affectionate person. Ever since the beginning. Looking back now, the monkey seemed to always find what excuse he could to get some sort of physical touch. Even back when he and Sanzang were practically strangers. Perhaps being trapped under that mountain had left him touch starved.

There was that short period of time when the only clothes the Monkey King had was his tiger skin skirt. During this time, Sanzang felt incredibly awkward whenever he tried to get close. It didn’t help matters that, after washing off five hundred years worth of dirt and moss, he had a remarkably handsome face. Maybe, he thought, the monkey was fully aware of this. Maybe he was purposely trying to tease the monk.

Wukong held Sanzang close every time he rescued them from a demon. He’d insist that there was never any doubt of rescuing them. Still, he’d hold the monk as though he was going to lose them at any moment. Sanzang didn’t mind it. They actually found it quite comforting. Sometimes, the monk even initiated the hug themself.

The night after the two had confessed their love to each other, Wukong had been especially cuddly and affectionate. He wrapped his arms around the monk’s waist. He was half way on top of them with one leg draped across Sanzang’s thighs. The monkey’s tail loosely looped around one of their legs. To finish off this intimate closeness, Wukong had his face buried in the crook of the monk’s neck.

Every so often, Wukong mumbled “I love you” or hummed happily. Sanzang themself had hands in his hair, gently stroking it. It was warm and cozy. Somehow, it was even warmer than the times when Wukong would keep them warm in the winter. Before they dared drift off, Sanzang made sure to whisper at least once, “I love you, too.” The two of them fell asleep enveloped in this love and happiness.

Then there was after the proposal. Sanzang had felt somewhat drained, reasonable considering the emotional rollercoaster they had gone through before. They fell asleep curled up on the bed with Wukong. As the monk began to drift back to consciousness, they could feel him gently tracing lazy circles into their back. The monkey hummed some tune that they couldn’t quite place. Sanzang could feel the ring still on their finger, and it made them smile. It had all felt like this sweet dream too good to be real.

There was that first night of their honeymoon. A night filled with intimate closeness and heat. Slow and gentle, as Wukong often was with the monk. Small gasps and breathless moans. At the end of it all, Sanzang was pulled close to that fur covered chest was they both caught their breath. Wukong wiped sweat off of his spouse’s face. “That was… really  _ really _ nice. I...” He pulled slightly down the blanket covering the both of them. “It’s not too hot for you, is it? Are you comfortable?”

“This is fine.” Sanzang closed their eyes. It felt like too much energy to keep them open. “This… all of this...it’s so…” They had trouble thinking of the right word.

“Yeah.” The monkey kissed them on the top of the head. “You tired?” The monk only hummed in response. Wukong chuckled softly. “It  _ is _ pretty late, isn’t it? Get some sleep if you’d like.”

They did so with a heart full of happiness. It was a wonderful way to spend the first night of their honeymoon. A year or so before, Sanzang might have been somewhat fearful of such an act and the consequences it might bring. But not tonight. In fact, they’d have no problems with doing it again at some point. Not a single regret or doubt crossed their mind. At least not until the day Wukong locked himself in the master bathroom.

He didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve to be hurt like this. This sweet monkey deserved to have good things happen to him. He may have told them it’s not their fault and he didn’t regret what they did. Even so, Sanzang still felt even just a bit responsible.  _ They should have known better. They should have been more careful. _

Sanzang sat up awake in bed late that night. What were they  _ thinking! _ These thoughts of living in this house for decades to come, of maybe, just maybe, starting a family someday? The monk must have been a fool to believe in such things. Could they even  **_truly_ ** call themself a monk anymore? After _ everything!? _

This wasn’t the time to be crying. And yet, Sanzang couldn’t stop their eyes from tearing up. Why should they get to have such a loving husband? They never really did anything for themself. They alway relied on someone else to do things for him. Sanzang hasn’t earned any of this happy life.

“Hey.” Wukong yawned behind him. “What’re you worryin’ about?” Sanzang felt the monkey lean against their back. He mumbled sleepily, “You have a nightmare or something?”

“I… You should be sleeping.”

“ _ I’m _ the one that’s supposed to say that to  _ you _ .”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. You don’t need to.” Wukong wrapped his arms around Sanzang. “Are you still blaming yourself about that stuff in the bathroom? Please, just… It might be better to forget about it.”

“Would… would it have been a bad thing? If it had… worked?”

Wukong buried his face into the back of Sanzang’s neck. “I don’t know. It’s… it’s kinda complicated. I mean, I’d love to start a family with you, but I’m not… not as comfortable as I used to be, you know?”

“Yeah.” Sanzang wasn’t sure if there’s anything more to say on the subject. They weren’t really sure themself how they’d feel about it working out. Would the monk even make a good parent?  _ They don’t deserve that kind of happy little family. They don’t fit in that family picture. Wukong deserved better than them, didn’t he? _

“It’s okay. Hey.” Wukong moved to sit more at their side and cupped their face. He pressed their foreheads together. “I’m okay. You’re okay. We’re both safe. Everything’s going to be alright.” He held his spouse close to himself.

Sanzang brought their hand up to run it through Wukong’s hair. They tried to take deep breaths. “You… you deserve good things.”

Wukong smiled softly. “Guess that’s why I have you.” He kissed the monk on the nose. “You are my good thing.”

Sanzang’s face started to flush. They smiled. “That may be a bit ‘cheesy,’ as one would say.”

“There’s a smile now!” Wukong began to kiss all over their face. The monk laughed. “You feeling better now?”

“I think so, yeah.”

“That’s good.” Wukong placed a final, tender kiss on their brow. “You deserve good things, too.”

Sanzang hummed. They both lied back down in the bed. “Sorry to wake you up.”

“As long as you’re feeling better now, I don’t mind at all.”

“You’d… You’d make a good dad.”

“We’d both be awesome parents.” He yawned. “Let’s try and get some sleep, okay?”

“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one chapter left! I actually had a lot more ideas for this world, so I might write a drabble every so often. If you have any suggestions for that, let me know!


	43. Chapter 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for this book to come to a close

Sanzang can’t believe his ears. “I… What? Explain?” They know they’re not the only one hearing this. The call is coming through Longma’s phone, which was set down on the coffee table as they all crowded around it.

“The Tightening Band got reincarnated as a human,” comes Wukong’s voice from the phone, “and we’re supposed to be responsible for her. Also, she’s still just a little baby, so we’ll need to buy some stuff. I already bought a couple diapers and a bit of baby formula.”

“Wukong, you’re basically telling him ‘hey, we’re parents now,’” Longma says. “You can’t just drop something like that. You can’t just leave to get the mail and come back with a baby!”

_ A parent. _

“I called Guanyin about it before! Apparently, her plan was to sneak the baby in with the mail, anyway!”

_ They’re… a parent? _ Sanzang is struggling to grasp this. True, it makes perfect sense for the two of them to be responsible for Tightening Band. As a crown, it spent their entire journey around Wukong’s head. And Sanzang was the one with the spell that made it work. But  _ parenting _ … “When… when will you be back?”

“A few minutes. Guanyin said she’d bring a few things over in a bit, and you should get to meet them before we have to do any big shopping.”

How did a crown even reincarnate? Did it have a soul before? That just makes Sanzang feel all the worse about using the spell as much as they did. Oh, they are just going to fail at parenting, aren’t they? “You’re not freaking out too much, are you Sanzang?”

“N-no.”

“I’m just about to reach the house, so I’ll hang up now.”

“Did you really have to have this chat with all of us?” Wujing asks, “You couldn’t have just called Sanzang and tell the rest of us when you got back?”

“This was easier.” With that, Wukong hangs up. The front door opens seconds later. Ozzy jumps down from the couch where he was napping and just goes  _ wild _ . “Ozzy! Ozzy, sit!” The dog starts barking, and the baby Wukong’s holding starts to cry. At that moment, four out of the five people in the living room make excuses to leave.

“You know, I should really go get ready for work.”

“Hey, Longma, didn’t we have that thing today?”

“You’re right, we totally did.”

“I’ve gotta go make some lunch.” Wujing at least gives Sanzang a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “You can handle this.”

They take in a deep breath. Yeah. They can handle this. They should go and help their husband with the dog. Sanzang stands up and goes towards the front door. “Ozzy!” The dogs runs and jumps in circles. He is definitely still a puppy. Sanzang bends down to pick up the pup while Wukong puts down the mail to take care of the small baby in his arm. “You can’t be so hyper right now.”

Ozzy licks their face and wiggles every which way. “If you hold onto him, it might be okay for him to meet them.” Wukong crouches down in front of his spouse. They hold tight to the pup as he sniffs the bundle in the monkey’s arms. This is the first chance Sanzang gets to get a look at this new baby.

She has this cute little face. She stares between Ozzy, Sanzang, and Wukong with these small round violet eyes. The baby looks surprised or confused. Ozzy licks all over her face. “Should we stop him from doing that? I don’t know if…”

“I think it’s fine. Maybe we should move from the floor, though.”

“Okay.” Wukong stands up first. Sanzang sets Ozzy down first. The pup stares at them, wagging his tail. They move before he can start jumping all over and pin them down. The monk follows their husband to the living room, Ozzy hot on their heels. “Does she have a name yet?”

“We have to come up with one.” Wukong sits down on the couch and gestures for Sanzang to come and sit next to him. “It’s not too overwhelming for you, is it?”

“I think I’m getting used to it.” Sanzang sits down next to him and scoots in close. “You two look really sweet.”

“Do you want a chance to hold her?” Wukong offers. “I don’t wanna just keep her from you.”

“I… How do I hold her right? I don’t…” They fidget with their hands. “I don’t want to mess up.”

“You won’t.” Wukong gently grabs onto one of the monk’s hands. “It’d be hard for you to mess up just holding her.” He carefully moves the baby from his arms into theirs. “Just don’t suddenly shake her, and it’ll be fine.”

The baby is cradled in their arms. Her head rests in the crook of of their elbow. All of her attention is on Sanzang now. “H-hi.” The baby flashes a tiny smile up at him. Oh….  _ oh gods. _

“Are you okay? Is it too much for you?” Wukong gently rubs their face. “You’re crying right now.”

“So… so small.” They didn’t mean to cry like this. “She’s… she’s just so…”

Wukong wraps his arms around his spouse and child. “She’s ours.” He kisses them on the forehead. “She needs a name, though. What kind of name do you deserve, little one?” He gently brushes the baby’s cheek with his finger. “I think your surname might suit her better than mine.”

Sanzang looks up somewhat shocked. “Really? What… What about your surname?”

“I mean, she could have both of our surnames, I guess.”

“You guys are way too adorable!” Wujing calls from the kitchen. “I’m in a different room, and I still might die!”

“She needs a name!”

For a moment, Sanzang worries that the yelling would upset the little baby. She doesn’t look bothered at all. She just wiggles a bit in this blanket she’s wrapped up in. “She’s… she’s technically a princess, isn’t she?” Wukong turns his full attention back to Sanzang. They feel their cheeks grow just a bit warmer. “I mean… I’m sorry. It’s a ridiculous idea.”

“No, no! You’re right! I’m a king. And you were adopted into the royal family back in the day.” Wukong wraps one arm around their waist and the other helping hold the baby. He hums in thought. “A name that has something to to do with ‘princess.’”

Ozzy whines from the floor. He changes from paw to paw, probably jealous of the attention this new baby is getting. The pup makes a small “raroo” kind of noise.

“Ozwald, my sweet son, please. We’re thinking,” Wukong scolds. The dog whines again.

“I think he wants up.”

The monkey sighs. “Alright, then.” He pulls away and bends down to pick up the excited pup. “Alright, what ideas do you have, Ozzy?” He only barks and licks in response. “How do you pronounce that? Barf? Bork? Wow?”

Sanzang laughs at his husband’s antics. They check on the baby to make sure the barking hasn’t upset her again. As a matter of fact, she’s fallen asleep right in their arms. It is rather sweet, but the monk wonders how they’ll move from this position now. Then there comes a knock from the front door.

“That’s probably Guanyin.” Wukong puts down Ozzy, who sprints off barking to the front door. “I’ll go get it, okay? Maybe you could think up some more name ideas while I’m gone.”

“O-okay.” And Sanzang is left alone with this small sleeping baby. A parent. They’re a parent. The monk never would have expected to come to this point when they started on the journey west. They started off as just a simple human monk. Now they’re immortal, they’re out as non-binary, they’re married to the Handsome Monkey King, and now they have a kid. A kid who needs a name.

Their husband returns with everyone’s mother figure and goddess of mercy, Guanyin. She has a shopping bag or two in one arm. “Aw, that’s so sweet!” She says, catching sight of the two on the couch. “Have you thought of a name yet?”

“We were just thinking of some before you showed up.” Wukong retakes his seat on the couch next to Sanzang. “You come up with anything?”

“I, um, I have one idea.”

“Then let’s hear it!”

“Jindan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been a lot of fun! I actually think I'll write some one shots set in this story's universe. I have so many ideas. I just need an idea of what to call of series. Until next time all you ladies, men, and non binary friends!


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